Intuitive Machines
Intuitive Machines, Inc. is an American space exploration company headquartered in Houston, Texas. It was founded in 2013 by Stephen Altemus, Kam Ghaffarian, and Tim Crain, to provide lunar surface access, lunar orbit delivery, and communication from lunar distance. Intuitive Machines holds three NASA contracts under the space agency's Commercial Lunar Payload Services (CLPS) initiative, to deliver payloads to the lunar surface.Among these, the company holds a contract to develop a Lunar Terrain Vehicle (LTV).
Lunar Operations Facility at Houston Spaceport | |
| Company type | Public |
|---|---|
Traded as | Nasdaq: LUNR |
| Industry | Aerospace |
| Founded | 2013 |
| Founders |
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| Headquarters | , United States |
Key people | Steve Altemus (President and CEO) |
| Products | Lunar lander, Mission Control Center, Ground stations, additive manufacturing |
Number of employees | 250+ (as of 27 October 2023) (135-150, in 2022) |
| Website | intuitivemachines |
The privately held Intuitive Machines, LLC, became a public company after merging with a special-purpose acquisition company, Inflection Point Acquisition Corp., in February 2023. The company is listed on the Nasdaq, incorporated in Delaware. On February 22, 2024, the Odysseus IM-1 spacecraft landed on the Moon. It was the first privately built craft to land on the Moon, and the first American spacecraft to do so since 1972. The Odysseus lander fell on its side when landing, but its instruments remained partially functional (albeit with a reduced downlink capacity), so the mission was judged successful.