Intuitive Machines (LUNR) made history in February by becoming the first private space company to land on the lunar surface.
Now it aims to accelerate the development of the lunar economy.
Speaking to Yahoo Finance, Intuitive Machines CEO and co-founder Steve Altemus said the company’s cost structure and ability to facilitate lunar missions ultimately puts it in the driver’s seat in a global race to develop the Moon.
“We designed and developed a mission to the Moon at a price point of approximately $118 million and achieved it in approximately four years,” Altemus said. “We have completely disrupted the industry in terms of the economics of flying to the moon.”
Intuitive Machines’ Odysseus lunar lander successfully reached the lunar surface in February on its first IM-1 mission, but its week-long mission ran into serious difficulties after the vehicle tipped sideways during descent. This interrupted Intuitive Machines’ entire mission, but NASA research equipment on board successfully sent back data from their experiments.
Intuitive Machines is now looking forward to the second lunar mission, IM-2, scheduled for November. Altemus said the company is conducting a 30-day review of its initial mission to improve its technology for the second round.
“We can improve our ability to land 20 times with precision,” Altemus said. “South pole [of the moon] it will require it. This is what we do constantly; making improvements for pinpoint accuracy.”
Intuitive Machines is among a handful of private startups developing a low-cost transportation system to the moon with funding from NASA. The agency’s Commercial Lunar Payload Services program has allocated $2.6 billion to more than a dozen companies to transport NASA’s research to the lunar surface along with payloads for commercial customers.
The missions lay the groundwork for NASA’s Artemis program, which aims to return astronauts to the moon. The first crewed mission under Artemis has been postponed until 2025 as lead contractor Lockheed Martin (LMT) develops the Orion spacecraft that will carry the astronauts.
Intuitive Machines, meanwhile, is positioning itself to have end-to-end operations between Earth and the Moon, and is strategically betting on the critical infrastructure needed to sustain a longer stay on the lunar surface.
The company recently won a $30 million contract from NASA to develop a lunar lander that will take Artemis astronauts around the moon. Intuitive Machines has also developed a Lunar Data Network that enables communications and data relay services for spacecraft.
“Our vision as a company is to deliver space systems to the surface, along with our family of landers, to command, control and navigate in and around the moon, thus enabling surface operations,” Altemus said. “I believe Intuitive Machines is the only company that has all three parts.”
NASA predicts that human activity in the region of space between the Earth and the Moon will exceed all activity since 1957 in the next decade alone. This potential prompted the White House to develop its first science and technology strategy to “support responsible, peaceful, and sustainable research.”
The relative success of its first mission gave Intuitive Machines a boost. The company’s cash balance rose to $54.6 million in the first three months of the year after an institutional investor exercised warrants. The company also raised $10 million through equity and said it had “sufficient capital in the short term.”
Intuitive Machines’ stock is up nearly 138% year to date. But the company, which came to the public markets via a SPAC, was left more vulnerable to large swings in perceived risks compared to rivals that chose to remain private.
“Once you get out of a SPAC, there is a fair amount of volatility in your shares as you move from retail investors to more institutional investors,” Altemus said. “As the company matures, I see a greater contribution from investments from institutional investors, which will provide some stability to the stock over the long term.”
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