Intuitive Machines

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Intuitive Machines, Inc.
Company typePublic
Nasdaq: LUNR
IndustryAerospace
Founded2013; 11 years ago (2013)
Founders
Headquarters
Houston, Texas
,
United States
Key people
Steve Altemus (President and CEO)
ProductsLunar lander, Mission Control Center, Ground stations, additive manufacturing
Number of employees
250+ (As of 27 October 2023) (135-150, in 2022)
Websiteintuitivemachines.com

Intuitive Machines, Inc. is an American space exploration company headquartered in Houston, Texas. It was founded in 2013 by Stephen Altemus, Kam Ghaffarian, and Tim Crain, PhD. The company has begun a lunar program to provide lunar surface access, lunar orbit delivery, and communications at lunar distance.[1] Intuitive Machines holds three NASA contracts, under the space agency's Commercial Lunar Payload Services (CLPS) initiative, to deliver payloads to the lunar surface.[2]

The formerly privately-held Intuitive Machines, LLC,[3] became a public company after completing a merger with a special-purpose acquisition company, Inflection Point Acquisition Corp., in February 2023. The company is listed on the Nasdaq and incorporated in Delaware.[4] On February 22, 2024, the Odysseus lander of Intuitive Machines' IM-1 spacecraft successfully landed on the Moon. It was the first privately built craft to land on the Moon, and the first American spacecraft to do so since 1972.[5][6][7] The Odysseus lander fell on its side when landing, it is currently unclear if the mission will be successful or not.

Overview[edit]

Intuitive Machines has designed some airborne drones and spacecraft, including the Universal Reentry Vehicle (URV),[8] the Nova-C lunar lander,[9] and other flight instrument systems.

Nova-C[edit]

Main article: Intuitive Machines Nova-C
Intuitive Machines’ Nova-C lunar lander.

In November 2018, it was selected by NASA as one of the 9 companies granted the right to bid on the Commercial Lunar Payload Services program (CLPS).[10] Their lander, Nova-C, will be proposed to NASA's CLPS as the first lander of this program, that is focused on the exploration and use of natural resources of the Moon.[11]

On 31 May 2019, NASA announced it had awarded Intuitive Machines $77 million to build and launch their Nova-C Moon lander.[12]

On 13 April 2020, Intuitive Machines, under contract to carry NASA science instruments to the Moon on a privately developed robotic spacecraft, said that its first commercial lunar mission would target landing near a deep, narrow valley named Vallis Schröteri.

Missions[edit]

Main article: IM-1

By April 2021, however, the landing site had been changed to an unspecified location between Mare Serenitatis and Mare Crisium.[13] Intuitive Machines announced in October 2019 that its first Nova-C lander would launch on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket. The company said on 13 April 2020 that its first lunar mission, designated IM-1, was scheduled for launch as soon as 11 October 2021, on a Falcon 9 rocket from pad LC-39A at Kennedy Space Center in Florida.[14] As of May 2022, IM-1 was scheduled to launch on 22 December 2022,[15] but in November 2022, IM-1 was scheduled for March 2023 earliest. But then it came in February 2024, the company began its first mission, where the Nova-C would spend roughly eight days travelling to the moon before lowering itself to the surface, attempting to make the first landing by USA in more than 50 years after the Apollo 17 mission touched down in 1972. It launched from Florida using SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket.[16][17]

The Intuitive Machines contract with NASA is valued at $77 million, covering transportation and operations at the Moon for five NASA science instruments. Intuitive Machines previously said the first Nova-C lander was scheduled for launch in July 2021. Josh Marshall, a company spokesperson, said on 15 April 2020, that the mission was pushed back three months due to impacts from a protest to the company's contract award by Deep Space Systems. Deep Space Systems also bid for the contracts that were ultimately won by Intuitive Machines and Astrobotic Technology. After a review, the Government Accountability Office (GAO) upheld NASA's selection of Intuitive Machines and Astrobotic Technology, allowing work on the CLPS missions to proceed.[14]

Following the launch of the IM-1 mission, Intuitive Machines' stock surged 35% in one trading day coming to a 75% total increase by Friday, February 16.[18]

Intuitive Machines’ stock sank 32% after the Odysseus moon lander fell on its side on Feb 23.

Joint venture with KBR[edit]

In April 2023, a joint venture of Intuitive Machines and KBR was awarded a contract worth up to $719 million to support NASA's Joint Polar Satellite System.[19]

SPAC merger[edit]

In September 2022, Intuitive Machines announced that it would merge into special-purpose acquisition company (SPAC) Inflection Point Acquisition Corp. (IPAX) and incorporate as a publicly held company. The transaction was approved by IPAX's shareholders on February 8, 2023 and the business combination was completed six days later.

The stock of the newly named Intuitive Machines, Inc., began trading on the Nasdaq exchange on 14 February 2023.[20][21]

Project Morpheus heritage and evolution[edit]

Main article: Project Morpheus

Project Morpheus was a NASA project that in 2010 began to develop a landing test vehicle similar to the IM Nova-C. Tim Crain had worked on the project and later became the CTO of Intuitive Machines. In an interview with NASA recorded in October 2023, Crain mentioned the possible development of a Nova-D lander.[22]

References[edit]

  1. ^ Leinfelder, Andrea (June 5, 2019). "Houston-based Intuitive Machines to be among first private U.S. Companies to land on the moon". Chron. Archived from the original on February 1, 2022. Retrieved February 1, 2022.
  2. ^ Potter, Sean (November 17, 2021). "NASA Selects Intuitive Machines for New Lunar Science Delivery". NASA. Archived from the original on January 29, 2022. Retrieved February 1, 2022.
  3. ^ "Certificate of Incorporation of Intuitive Machines, Inc". SEC.gov. Securities and Exchange Commission. February 10, 2023. Archived from the original on February 16, 2023. Retrieved February 16, 2023.
  4. ^ "Intuitive Machines completes SPAC merger". Space News. February 14, 2023. Archived from the original on February 23, 2024. Retrieved August 17, 2023.
  5. ^ Chang, Kenneth (February 22, 2024). "A U.S.-Built Spacecraft Lands on the Moon for the First Time Since 1972". The New York Times. Archived from the original on February 22, 2024. Retrieved February 23, 2024.
  6. ^ Chow, Denise (February 23, 2024). "Privately built lunar lander makes history with successful moon touchdown". NBC News. Archived from the original on February 22, 2024. Retrieved February 23, 2024.
  7. ^ Sriram, Akash; Varghese, Harshita Mary (February 23, 2024). "Intuitive Machines rockets higher after landing spacecraft on moon". Reuters. Retrieved February 23, 2024.
  8. ^ "Universal Reentry Vehicle". Intuitive Machines. Archived from the original on December 1, 2018. Retrieved December 1, 2018.
  9. ^ Stuckey, Alex (November 30, 2018). "Houston company among 9 tapped to build moon landers". The Houston Chronicle. Archived from the original on December 1, 2018.
  10. ^ "NASA Announces New Partnerships for Commercial Lunar Payload Delivery Services". NASA.GOV. NASA. November 29, 2018. Archived from the original on November 25, 2020. Retrieved November 29, 2018. Public Domain This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
  11. ^ "Intuitive Machines Headed To The Moon In 2021". Space Mining News. November 30, 2018. Archived from the original on June 2, 2019.
  12. ^ "NASA chooses three companies to send landers to the moon". UPI. Archived from the original on January 22, 2020. Retrieved June 1, 2019.
  13. ^ "Intuitive Machines-1 Orbital Debris Assessment Report (ODAR) Revision 1.1" (PDF). Intuitive Machines. FCC. April 22, 2021. Archived (PDF) from the original on April 24, 2021. Retrieved April 24, 2021.
  14. ^ a b Clark, Stephen (April 15, 2020). "Intuitive Machines announces moon mission's launch date, landing site". Spaceflight Now. Archived from the original on April 16, 2020. Retrieved April 16, 2020.
  15. ^ "Upcoming Mission Events". NASA. Archived from the original on January 29, 2019. Retrieved May 31, 2022.
  16. ^ Sheetz, Michael (February 15, 2024). "Moon company Intuitive Machines begins first mission after SpaceX launch". CNBC. Archived from the original on February 15, 2024. Retrieved February 15, 2024.
  17. ^ Norman, Greg (February 15, 2024). "SpaceX rocket blasts off carrying Intuitive Machines' moon lander". FOXBusiness. Archived from the original on February 15, 2024. Retrieved February 15, 2024.
  18. ^ Sheetz, Michael (February 16, 2024). "Intuitive Machines stock jumps 16% after company says moon mission is in 'excellent health'". CNBC. Archived from the original on February 16, 2024. Retrieved February 16, 2024.
  19. ^ Carreau, Mark (April 20, 2023). "NASA Picks Intuitive Machines/KBR JV For Engineering Support Contract". Aviation Week. Archived from the original on February 15, 2024. Retrieved February 15, 2024.
  20. ^ Foust, Jeff (February 13, 2023). "Intuitive Machines completes SPAC merger". SpaceNews. Archived from the original on February 23, 2024. Retrieved February 16, 2023.
  21. ^ Cooper, Naomi (February 14, 2023). "Intuitive Machines Completes SPAC Merger, Aims to Gain Foothold in Space Exploration Market". GovConWire. Archived from the original on February 16, 2023. Retrieved February 16, 2023.
  22. ^ "IM-1, Houston We Have a Podcast". NASA. February 9, 2024. Archived from the original on February 13, 2024. Retrieved February 9, 2024.

External links[edit]

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