Shares of space exploration company Intuitive Machines Inc. rose. rose 7.3% on Monday as the moon landing spotlight turned to the Houston-based company.
Last week, private US space company Astrobotic Technology ended its troubled mission to place a lander on the moon's surface when its Peregrine spacecraft completed its controlled re-entry into Earth's atmosphere. On Friday, Japan's Lunar Exploration Intelligent Lander, or SLIM, successfully landed on the lunar surface. Contact was made with the spacecraft, according to the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA), although SLIM's solar panels were not charged, prompting scientists to turn them off before attempting a restart.
Against this background, the intuitive machines LUNR,
It is preparing to launch the first commercial lunar lander, which could come as early as next month. The lander's goal is to become the first private American probe to reach the Moon.
Related: Space stocks rose despite Virgin Galactic's decline
The Houston-based company plans to send the Nova-C lunar lander to the moon aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from Cape Canaveral, Florida. The launch of the IM-1 mission targets a multi-day launch window that does not open before midnight. The company said in a recent update that February is the monthly lunar blackout period. Nova-C will land near the Moon's south pole, where the right lighting conditions are available for only a few days each month.
The lander will carry five NASA payloads, as well as commercial cargo. The mission's scientific objectives include studies of lunar surface interactions, radio astronomy, and space weather interactions with the lunar surface, according to NASA.
Commercial lunar landings are important exploration missions before American astronauts return to the Moon as part of NASA's Artemis program. Earlier this month, NASA said it is now targeting September 2025 for the first crewed Artemis mission around the moon, and September 2026 for an Artemis mission to land astronauts near the moon's south pole.
Related: This space inventory is rising as the next commercial lunar landing mission approaches
Intuitive Machines shares posted their biggest daily gain Monday since Jan. 10, when they rose 23%. Intuitive Machines stock finished Friday's session up 1.6%, snapping a two-day winless streak. (Shares closed unchanged on January 17.) The space exploration company's stock has fallen 72.3% over the past 52 weeks, compared with the S&P 500 SPX's gain of 20.7%.
Fellow at space company Virgin Galactic Holdings Inc. SPCE,
Momentus Inc. shares rose. MNTS by 6.8% on Monday,
Which provides transportation and services via satellite, rose by 2.6%. Shares of Earth imaging company Planet Labs PBC PL,
It ended Monday's session up 8.1% and the Procure Space ETF UFO rose 1.2%.
