Crucial points
• The “Odysseus” cargo moonlander from Intuitive Machines made history by being the first privately built spacecraft to set foot on the moon.
- Early Friday trading saw a sharp increase in the company’s stock price.
Cantor Fitzgerald analyst Andres Sheppard noted in a note to investors, “This validates the company’s technology and adds significant credibility to the business.”
• The NASA Marshall Space Flight Center features the Lunar Lander, or Nova-C, built by intuitive machines.
Following the company’s successful first lunar landing, Intuitive Machines’ stock increased 20% on Friday.
The first privately built spacecraft to set foot on the moon was the “Odysseus” spacecraft. It is also the first American spacecraft to soft land on the moon in almost 50 years. On Thursday, the spacecraft made its maiden soft landing on the moon.
The Houston, Texas-based business verified that the IM-1 mission lander was erect and transmitting data back to the planet.
Tim Crain, the CTO and head of the IM-1 mission at Intuitive Machines, declared from the company’s mission control on Thursday night that “Odysseus has found his new home.”
Before trimming gains amid intense trading volume, Intuitive Machines’ stock first surged 40% over its previous closing of $8.28 per share. The market value of the business is close to $1 billion.
Over the course of the last month, the company’s stock has increased as anticipation for the IM-1 mission has grown. A year ago, Intuitive Machines went public through a SPAC, and since then, its shares have plummeted to all-time lows of about $2 in January.
All Street analysts informed CNBC prior to the landing that the event’s unusual nature might cause erratic momentum trading.
“A publicly traded company has never experienced [a moon landing attempt].” So this is new for us analysts as well as investors,” Andres Sheppard of Cantor Fitzgerald remarked prior to the landing.
Following the landing, Cantor Fitzgerald raised its price objective for Intuitive Machines’ stock to $13 per share from $4 per share in a note to investors.
We believe that this lends a great deal of legitimacy to the organization and validates its technology. Thus, Sheppard stated in the letter, “We believe intuitive machines are now very well positioned to continue to capitalize on the growing commercial space economy, as well as on subsequent launches.”
Feb. 21, 2024, finds the IM-1 lander “Odysseus” in lunar orbit.
Intuitive Machines said in a statement on Friday morning that “Odysseus is alive and well” and that the lander is charging its solar panels.
According to the business, “the vehicle is being instructed to download science data by the flight controllers through communication.”
A press conference with NASA and the corporation is scheduled for this Friday at 5 p.m. ET.
The Odysseus lander carried twelve government and commercial payloads, six of which are for NASA, which is receiving a $118 million contract for the Commercial Lunar Payload Services, or CLPS, program.
Two further CLPS contracts for lander missions have already been awarded to Intuitive Machines; IM-2 is scheduled to launch as early as the second half of this year.
The business also holds a portion of a $719 million, five-year deal to supply engineering services to NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Maryland. According to Cantor Fitzgerald’s estimate, Intuitive Machines will generate approximately $338 million in revenue for its fiscal year 2024, while analysts project that the Goddard deal will be worth approximately $11 million each month for the company.
Published by : Reshraman