Intuitive Machines not picked to build NASA rover; stock's rally on SpaceX IPO snaps
Intuitive Machines shares ended Tuesday down nearly 9% after rallying as much as 16% during the day on enthusiasm around the SpaceX IPO / Photo: Facebook / Intuitive Machines
NASA has selected Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin, Firefly Aerospace, and several other companies to send robotic landers, rovers, and drones to the Moon as part of U.S. efforts to accelerate the creation of a lunar base before the end of the decade, Bloomberg reports. However, spacecraft manufacturer Intuitive Machines was not included on the list. The company’s shares fell nearly 9% by the close of trading on Tuesday after rising as much as 16% during the session.
In 2024, Intuitive Machines became the first company to successfully land a commercial spacecraft intact on the Moon’s surface. However, the lander tipped over during descent, limiting the mission’s capabilities on the lunar surface, Bloomberg noted. A second landing attempt in March 2025 ended the same way. Still, the company continues to secure contracts under NASA’s lunar program: in May, for example, the space agency awarded Intuitive Machines contracts worth a combined roughly $20 million for the operation and processing of imaging-system data.
Winners of new contracts
On Tuesday, NASA awarded Lunar Outpost and Astrolab contracts worth $220 million each to build rovers capable of both autonomous travel across the Moon and future astronaut-operated navigation on the lunar surface. The space agency also announced that Blue Origin would deliver these rovers to the Moon using its uncrewed Mark 1 cargo lunar lander. Each landing and rover delivery will bring Blue Origin $234 million. All three companies are private.
Shares of another contractor, Firefly Aerospace, whose Elytra spacecraft will transport the first drones to the Moon for surface imaging, jumped 18.8% on Tuesday. The autonomous vehicles are expected to help create maps of potential landing zones and future base sites.
Rally ahead of SpaceX IPO
Shares of space-related companies extended their rally on Tuesday after Elon Musk’s SpaceX revealed its IPO filing last week. The offering could become the largest in stock-market history and provide momentum for a broad range of industry players.
Retail traders are aggressively buying shares of publicly traded space companies and sector-focused ETFs in an attempt to identify other beneficiaries of the listing, CNBC writes. Analysts interviewed by the network noted that not only SpaceX suppliers and partners, but also its competitors, could benefit. Firefly’s market capitalization, for example, has surged by a third over the last five trading sessions.
Analysts at Cantor Fitzgerald named Intuitive Machines among the “direct beneficiaries” of the upcoming giant IPO and recommended "buy" on the stock.
