There might not be any gravity on the Moon, but shares of Intuitive Machines (LUNR) are being crushed by it after its second failed lunar landing.
The Athena robotic lander touched down on the Moon’s surface yesterday, but in a replay of is lunar mission last year, it seems to have landed on its side again. Intuitive Machines may have been the first private company to reach the Moon, but going 0-for-2 in nailing the landing indicates the company is not prepared yet to be a reliable partner in space.
Considering privately held Firefly Aerospace was able to successfully make the journey and land on the lunar surface in an upright position on Sunday, Intuitive Machines has lost investor confidence.
The stock lost 20% of its value yesterday as its mission was also caught up in the expiration of its warrants, but in pre-market trading this morning, LUNR stock was down another 33%, a stunning loss of half its market capitalization in less than a day. Shares are now down 70% from their January high.
The Athena mission was aiming to deliver critical science payloads, including a drill to probe for water ice in Mons Mouton. While it touched down near the Moon’s South Pole, Intuitive Machines CEO Steve Altemus confirmed at a NASA news conference that the lander was “not in the correct attitude,” limiting power and data collection due to misaligned solar panels and antennae.
It mirrors the fate of its first mission, IM-1, in February 2024. Athena was launched last week atop a SpaceX Falcon 9 as part of NASA’s Commercial Lunar Payload Services (CLPS) initiative. The repeat failure, which was compounded by issues with laser rangefinders, casts a shadow over the company’s reliability as a NASA partner.
It threatens its standing in NASA’s $2.6 billion CLPS program, which relies on private companies to deliver payloads at lower costs with higher risks. NASA invested $62.5 million in IM-2 and sees these missions as pathfinders for its Artemis program, which intend to put a man back on the Moon, and eventually Mars.
Intuitive Machines was awarded a $4.8 million lunar communications contract last year, but the consecutive partial successes raise doubts about its ability to refine its Nova-C lander for future task orders.
While NASA understands its CLPS model is high-risk and failure is tolerated, repeated stumbles could shift resources elsewhere. Intuitive Machines must swiftly address these flaws to remain a viable partner in NASA’s lunar ambitions and regain investor confidence.
With LUNR stock down over 50% in one day, and rivals like Firefly gaining ground, Intuitive Machines must swiftly fix navigation and landing flaws to secure future Artemis-related task orders.
Failure to do so could see NASA pivot to more successful partners, dimming Intuitive Machines’ prospects in the lunar economy by late 2025. The mission wasn’t a complete failure, and NASA says it still might be able to use the drilling apparatus, even in a “non-optimal orientation,” but the market won’t tolerate any more mishaps.
