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Key Takeaways
- Shares of Intuitive Machines soared in early trading Friday after the space startup’s lander made a historic moon landing.
- The landing marks the first time a U.S.-made spaceship has touched the moon’s surface in one piece since 1972.
- Intuitive Machines shares have more than tripled in value this year.
Intuitive Machines (LUNR) shares were up over 19% in early trading Friday after the commercial space startup’s lander made a historic moon landing.
The Houston-based company’s spacecraft—named Odysseus after the mythological Greek hero—landed Thursday night, with the firm posting on social media platform X (formerly known as Twitter) that the spaceship was “upright and starting to send data.”
The landing marks the first time a U.S.-made spaceship has touched the moon’s surface in one piece since 1972 when NASA completed the final Apollo astronaut visit. The U.S. space agency is reportedly paying Intuitive Machines $118 million to deliver scientific instruments to the moon.
Until Intuitive Machines’ moon landing, no private firm had succeeded in landing their spaceships intact on the moon.
Pittsburgh-based Astrobotic struggled with engine failure just after reaching space in January, and last year, Japan’s Ispace lost contact with its spaceship.
Intuitive Machines shares were trading 19.7% higher at $9.92 as of about 10 a.m. ET Friday, and have more than tripled in value so far this year.