Lunar Trailblazer, an orbiter that shared a launch on Wednesday with the commercial Athena lander, will help scientists understand where the moon’s water is, and what form it takes.

The space exploration firm is scheduled to launch its six-legged Nova-C moon lander, Athena, on Wednesday as part of NASA's $2.6 billion Commercial Lunar Payload Services (CLPS) initiative. Athena is scheduled to launch aboard SpaceX's Falcon 9 rocket from NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory described the complicated maneuver that will get the Trailblazer in a position to reach lunar orbit in a release published this week. Lunar Trailblazer will separate from its rocket approximately 48 minutes after launch, the release stated, and head towards the Moon for a minimum two-year mission.