Intuitive Machines stock fell more than 30% in after-hours trading Friday after the space exploration company said its Odysseus lunar lander fell on its side while landing near the moon's south pole, disrupting its communications with Earth.
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Odysseus “has put his foot on the surface,” CEO Steve Altimus said Friday [of the moon] It flipped on its side while landing on Thursday, according to the Associated Press.
While the six-foot-tall lander still has “a significant amount of operational capability,” Altimus said some of its antennas are pointed toward the lunar surface, limiting its ability to communicate with flight controllers and transmit data.
The news sent shares of Houston-based Intuitive Machines plunging 31.7% after hours, after rising 15.8% in regular trading Friday on the back of Odysseus' slump. The company was just getting started He said the spacecraft was upright on Thursday when it became the first commercial lander to successfully reach the Moon, although the extent of that success may now be in doubt given the complexities of the mission.
Odysseus – also the first American spacecraft to reach the Moon since the Apollo 17 mission in 1972 – carries scientific and technological instruments on behalf of NASA. The space agency is sponsoring and supporting the mission in its quest to return astronauts to the moon by 2026 through its Artemis program.
