Intuitive Machines’ moon landing makes history — and beats rival space companies
“Zetus Lapetus”… Yesterday a US spacecraft landed on the moon for the first time since the 1972 Apollo mission. The lander, launched from a SpaceX rocket, is the first commercial vehicle to make a lunar landing. The private company behind the lander, Intuitive Machines, went public just last year. Investors seem to think it’s going to the moon: the stock has nearly quadrupled this year.
Cargo: The lander carried 12 gov’t and commercial payloads, including science projects, 125 moon-inspired Jeff Koons sculptures, and insulated clothing from Columbia Sportswear that’ll be put to the test against extreme temps.
Funded: NASA backed the mission with a $118M contract as Uncle Sam looks to the private sector to get Americans on the moon and beyond.
Next stop: Matt Damon’s home planet, Mars. NASA wants to “establish the first long-term presence on the Moon,” and then send the first astronauts to Mars.
One small step for man… one big step for biz. Intuitive’s lunar journey is the second mission under NASA’s $2.6B Commercial Lunar Payload Services initiative, which is part of its Artemis program. The first try at touching moon dirt, made by rival Astrobotic Technology, failed after its lander suffered a critical propulsion fault. Altogether, NASA’s making its gov’t moola available to 14 companies that can bid on payload-delivering moonward missions. Intuitive, Astrobotic Technology, and Firefly Aerospace all have more lunar-landing attempts planned for this year. Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin won a $3.4B NASA contract last spring to build crewed lunar spacecraft, while SpaceX secured $2.9B toward the same goal in 2021.
The next lunar race will be private… As NASA pours $$ into private space cos, investors are following: there are at least 22 lunar-oriented companies raising funds, with $780M+ in private investments powering the lunar industry over the past decade. Most of that cash has gone toward simply getting to the moon, but the moon-conomy could soon expand to mining resources, building habitats, and testing more products in space.