Intuitive Machines’ Nova-C lander “Odysseus” deploys from the upper stage of SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket to start the IM-1 mission.
NASA TV
Shares of Intuitive Machines jumped for a second consecutive day after the corporate issued an update that said its moon lander mission “is in excellent health.”
The Texas-based lunar company launched its inaugural cargo mission, often called IM-1, on a SpaceX rocket early Thursday morning.
In an update Friday afternoon, Intuitive wrote that the mission stays heading in the right direction but that it has delayed the primary attempt at igniting the lander’s engine. That represents a step Intuitive calls “engine commissioning,” or the primary time the engine starts within the vacuum of space. The corporate noted it tested the engine “1000’s of times” before the mission but that the method’ timeline needed to be adjusted after reviewing mission data.
Intuitive didn’t say when it expects to try the engine commissioning, but reiterated earlier statements that the lander is in “excellent health.”
Intuitive Machines’ stock jumped as much as 30% in early trading Friday before paring gains finish the day up 9% at $7.32 a share.
The stock surged 35% on Thursday after the IM-1 mission launched successfully. Since IM-1 launched, Intuitive Machines’ stock had gained 47% as of Friday’s close.
The corporate’s shares still trade below its post-SPAC merger debut pricing a 12 months ago, nonetheless.
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Andrew Chanin, CEO of ProcureAM, which runs the “UFO” space-focused ETF, emphasized to CNBC that he’s “never shocked to see volatility related to an area company, especially a pure-play space company” and noted that the yet-unprofitable Intuitive Machines is a comparatively small company by market size.
“We’re rooting for them. To the extent that they will show success here … hopefully that can bring more belief that that is something that is doable,” Chanin said.
The IM-1 lander, carrying each government and business research payloads, is predicted to spend about eight days traveling to the moon before making a landing attempt on Feb. 22.
“There’s an amazing amount of give attention to the moon without delay. Most investors do not have much, if any, space exposure currently and to the extent that the U.S. business businesses, [NASA], or foreign governments see success on the moon, it seems that it’s only going to encourage other entities to also ramp up their focus and spending on the moon,” Chanin said.
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