Unlocking the mysteries of the Red Planet, Intuitive Machines plans to aid NASA in the ambitious endeavor of returning samples from Mars.
Scientists use the data from Curiosity to gather evidence about Mars' potential climate in the past.Daniele Colucci from Unsplash
Intuitive Machines Eyes Mars
During a quarterly earnings call on Tuesday, executives at Intuitive Machines revealed their plans to contribute to the Mars Sample Return mission architecture using their lunar technology. Intuitive Machines CEO Steve Altemus expressed the company's intention to offer a solution based on their lunar material return technology.
NASA's Mars Sample Return (MSR) program aims to collect and retrieve samples from Mars. With an $11 billion budget over 15 years, NASA acknowledged last month that the current architecture had become overly complex and costly.
As a result, the agency announced plans to seek proposals from the commercial industry to revise the mission, aiming to reduce both risk and expenses. It's expected that Intuitive Machines would seek involvement in the program given its recent historic achievement as the first private company to land a spacecraft on the moon earlier this year.
Leveraging their lunar technology for Mars seems a logical step forward. With potential contracts associated with the MSR program reaching billions of dollars, TechCrunch reported that the endeavor holds significant financial promise for the company.
Expanding Lunar Ventures
Following its successful inaugural mission in January, Intuitive Machines is gearing up for its second lunar venture, slated for launch later this year, targeting the lunar south pole. While the third mission is earmarked for 2025, the exact landing date hinges on NASA, the mission's primary client.
Additionally, the company is anticipating a verdict on the contract for another mission, CP-22, which could see liftoff around 2027. Yet, Altemus highlighted that the deferred timeline for CP-22 "presents an opportunity" for Intuitive Machines to execute its maiden fully commercial lunar mission to deliver payloads to the moon.
While the company currently has three missions under contract, including the January mission and the subsequent two, they are part of NASA awards within its Commercial Lunar Payload Services program.
During the call, interim CFO Steven Vontur expressed optimism about the increasing commercial and international engagement, citing signed contracts for lunar missions. He anticipates this interest will continue to expand in the coming years.
Executives highlighted the achievement of securing one of three study contracts within NASA's Lunar Terrain Vehicle Services program, which has an overall value of $4.6 billion over 15 years. Although NASA is expected to select at least two providers to develop the lunar buggy, this win marks a significant milestone for the company.
Intuitive Machines closed the quarter with $73 million in revenue, marking a 300% increase compared to the previous year's first quarter.
The surge in revenue was largely attributed to the company's realization of earnings from an engineering services contract with NASA. Despite the revenue growth, Intuitive Machines reported a net loss of $5.4 million, with $55.2 million in cash.
