Houston-based Intuitive Machines has made worldwide headlines following a historic moon landing on Thursday.
A robot lander named “Odysseus” landed on the moon on Thursday, becoming the first American spacecraft since 1972 to land there.
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Odysseus was made by Intuitive Machines, a company based right here in Houston. But how much do you know about the company? Here are some facts and figures about Intuitive Machines.
It was founded in 2013
The company was founded in 2013 by Stephane Altemus, Kam Ghaffarian and Tim Crain with the intent to provide lunar surface access, lunar orbit delivery and communications at a lunar distance, according to its website.
The company has a big contract with NASA
Intuitive Machines has a $118 million contract with NASA to provide spacecraft, according to Forbes. The company must meet necessary milestones for payment as part of the contract. Intuitive Machines is part of NASA’s Commercial Lunar Payload Services program, which hands out contracts between companies bidding to deliver cargo on moon missions in the future.
The company’s stock has skyrocketed
Intuitive Machines hit a low on the stock market in January, but that is a thing of the past now. After hitting as low as $2.11, the company’s stock ballooned to $10.99 at one point on Thursday following the moon landing.
“We’ve never witnessed a publicly traded company go through (a moon landing attempt). So this is new, not just for investors, but for us analysts as well,” Cantor Fitzgerald’s Andres Sheppard said to CNBC.
There is more coming in 2024
Intuitive Machines has two other lunar lander missions planned this year, according to Axios. It’s unclear at the moment when those two missions will be attempted. It’s part of a race where multiple companies around the world are attempting lunar landings. Japan launched a lunar lander in January, while China plans on sending one in May.