Shares of Intuitive Machines soared for a third consecutive trading session as the company’s inaugural mission achieved significant milestones on its journey toward the moon.
In a succession of daily updates since Friday, the Texas-based lunar exploration firm reported that its cargo lander, “Odysseus,” “continues to be in excellent health” as it readies itself to enter the moon’s orbit on Wednesday.
Intuitive Machines emphasized that this transition into lunar orbit, known as “lunar orbit insertion,” presents the mission’s “largest challenge to date.”
Dubbed IM-1, the mission embarked aboard a SpaceX rocket last week, accomplishing several of the 16 milestones deemed crucial by Intuitive Machines for mission success. A pivotal moment it has arrived when the Odysseus lander executed its inaugural engine firing, enabling trajectory adjustments to maintain the course.
The company remains on schedule for its lunar touchdown attempt at 5:49 p.m. ET on Thursday.
Intuitive Machines’ stock surged approximately 30% in early trading from its previous close of $7.32 per share. Since the launch of the IM-1 mission, the company’s shares have skyrocketed by over 90%.
The IM-1 lander is transporting 12 government and commercial payloads, six designated for NASA under a contract valued at $118 million.
This mission marks the second endeavor under NASA’s Commercial Lunar Payload Services initiative, which seeks to utilize cost-effective private spacecraft for delivering scientific projects and cargo to the moon, augmenting support for the agency’s Artemis crew program.
Both governments and private entities have undertaken more than 50 lunar landing attempts since the early 1960s, yielding mixed results. Despite advancements in the modern era, the track record for lunar missions remains unpredictable.
Last month, U.S.-based company Astrobotic launched its inaugural moon mission but encountered complications shortly after liftoff, resulting in an abbreviated flight and the failure to execute a lunar landing attempt.
