After Intuitive Machines Inc.’s uncrewed Nova-C lander, Athena, had issues upon landing on the moon’s surface on Thursday, the company’s stock is declining.
According to Intuitive Machines (LUNR), the spacecraft might not have landed in the proper location. A little more than a year has passed since the company’s first lunar lander flipped over during landing.
As flight controllers try to determine Athena’s condition, the stock is down 21.4% in extended trading after closing the session down 20.2%.
Steve Altemus, CEO of Intuitive Machines, stated: “We don’t believe we’re in the correct attitude on the surface of the moon,” at a news conference. Altemus stated that Intuitive Machines is analyzing the data to determine what transpired and that the lander is in communication with ground control.
He stated, “I have to get more data,”
They are also figuring out the exact location of the lander, which launched last week aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket. “I believe that we’re in the vicinity of the intended landing site,” remarked Altemus.
“We don’t know the exact location of the lander,” NASA Science Mission Directorate associate administrator Nicola Fox stated.
A landing spot on Mons Mouton, a plateau roughly 100 miles from the lunar south pole, was the mission’s aim. “We’re definitely on Mons Mouton,” Tim Crain, chief growth officer at Intuitive Machines, stated at the press conference.
The Odysseus lander from Intuitive Machines made history last year when it became the first commercial lander to land on the moon’s surface. However, it landed close to the moon’s south pole and fell onto its side.
The United States is exploring the moon at a busy moment. The uncrewed Blue Ghost lander from private space business Firefly Aerospace made a successful landing on the moon “in an upright, stable configuration” on Sunday, boosting space equities earlier this week.
Intuitive Machines’ IM-2 mission is a component of NASA’s Commercial Lunar Payload Services program, which aims to bring technology and science to the moon’s surface, much as Firefly Aerospace’s Ghost Riders in the Sky project. A drill and a mass spectrometer to detect the presence of gasses or volatile materials in the lunar soil are among the three NASA payloads that Athena is transporting to the moon. The lander’s top deck has a laser retroreflector array designed to reflect laser light back to incoming or orbiting spacecraft in the future.
One space stock to keep an eye on in 2025 is Intuitive Machines, which became public in 2023 through a merger with special-purpose acquisition firm Inflection Point Acquisition. The business has secured many significant agreements and was awarded more contracts by NASA’s Near Space Network in December. The company was given a NASA study contract in January to improve surface freight and mobility, as well as lunar logistics handling and unloading.
On February 22, 2024, the IM-1 mission from Intuitive Machines arrived at its landing location close to the moon’s south pole. The lander managed to communicate with flight controllers despite tipping over. A week later, the mission came to an end.
Over the past 12 months, Intuitive Machines’ stock has increased by 119.9%.
