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Shares of space exploration company Intuitive Machines Inc. rose 7% in premarket trades after the successful launch of its Nova-C lunar lander atop a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket early Thursday.
The stock is on pace to snap a two-day losing streak as Intuitive Machines’
LUNR,
IM-1 mission aims to make history by placing the first commercial U.S. lander on the moon. The Nova-C lander would also be the first U.S. spacecraft to land on the moon since Apollo 17’s “Challenger” lunar module in December 1972.
The Nova-C lander was launched shortly after 1 a.m. ET from Launch Complex 39A at Kennedy Space Center. About 48 minutes later, SpaceX confirmed the lander’s separation from SpaceX’s second-stage booster.
The launch, which was originally scheduled for early Wednesday was pushed back 24 hours amid a technical issue. Shares of Intuitive Machines ended Wednesday’s session down 3.3% after a 2.8% fall on Tuesday.
Related: Intuitive Machines’ shares fall as historic moon mission delayed
Andrew Chanin, CEO of Procure AM, issuer of the Procure Space ETF
UFO
told MarketWatch that the success of missions such as IM-1 bodes well for the broader space sector. “I think it could be very encouraging for the overall industry,” he said.
While space isn’t in the “primetime” of focus for many investors, Chanin says that successful high-profile missions raise the industry’s profile. “There’s a chance that space could have that ‘AI’ moment,” he said, noting the emergence of AI in recent years. “I don’t know if it has the same allure – could it become more primetime?”
“I personally believe that space is much more important than people give it credit for – it’s not science fiction,” he added.
The Nova-C lander was originally scheduled to reach the lunar surface on Feb. 22.
Related: These are the space stocks to watch in 2024
The IM-1 mission is Intuitive Machines’ first lunar-landing attempt within NASA’s Commercial Lunar Payload Services initiative, which is part of the Artemis program to eventually return U.S. astronauts to the moon.
The launch is timed for the monthly lunar-blackout period. Nova-C will land near the moon’s south pole, where the correct lighting conditions are available for only a few days each month.
The IM-1 mission is carrying NASA science and technology instruments focusing on plume-surface interactions, space-weather and lunar-surface interactions, radio astronomy, precision-landing technologies and a communication and navigation node for future autonomous navigation technologies, according to the space agency.
Commercial moon landings are considered important scouting missions for the Artemis program. Last month, NASA said it is now targeting September 2025 for its first crewed Artemis mission around the moon, and September 2026 for its Artemis mission to land astronauts near the lunar south pole.
Related: Virgin Galactic ‘blasting off to positive cash flow in mid-2026,’ analyst says
Chanin describes the “cislunar economy” as a huge opportunity over the next couple of decades, and also points to the growing commercial and government need to send spacecraft and satellites into low earth orbit. “I think there’s a much more immediate race for establishing a presence in low earth orbit,” he said. “I think that [in] each of these domains, both low earth orbit and cislunar economy, communications companies and launch providers will be important players.”
But complex lunar missions, in particular, bring a high level of risk. Last month, private U.S. space company Astrobotic Technology ended its troubled mission to place a lander on the moon.
Also in January, Japan’s Smart Lander for Investigating Moon, or SLIM, successfully landed on the moon. However, the probe was upside down on the lunar surface in an image taken by SLIM’s rover.
Intuitive Machines’ shares have fallen 88.9% in the last 52 weeks, compared with the S&P 500 index’s SPX gain of 20.6%.
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