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Yahoo
6 days ago
- Business
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A Japan-based company will attempt to land on the moon. Here's why its lander spent months, not days, in space
Sign up for CNN's Wonder Theory science newsletter. Explore the universe with news on fascinating discoveries, scientific advancements and more. Nearly five months ago, a SpaceX rocket launched out of Florida carrying two lunar landers. The Blue Ghost spacecraft, from Texas-based Firefly Aerospace, zoomed to the moon, and in March it became the first robotic commercial vehicle to land upright on the lunar surface. The other spacecraft, developed by Japan-based company Ispace, is just now arriving at its destination. Resilience, as the uncrewed lunar lander is called, is on track to make its touchdown attempt at 3:24 p.m. ET on Thursday — three months after its rideshare buddy made history. Ispace isn't too concerned about losing out on a 'first' superlative. And company executives said that taking a slow and steady path to the moon can offer Ispace some long-term advantages. 'What is good about this four- or five-month trajectory is, every day, there are small things that happen … something we didn't expect,' Ispace Chief Financial Officer Jumpei Nozaki told CNN in January. 'This (journey to the moon) is really a learning phase.' Three teams of Ispace employees have been rotating in and out of the company's mission control room in Tokyo, racking up months' worth of practice in overseeing the unpredictable and daring physics of deep-space travel — a rare opportunity, the company's founder and CEO, Takeshi Hakamada, told CNN. Such a gradual approach to the moon does not, however, guarantee landing success. Ispace's first attempt to put a spacecraft on the lunar surface ended with a crash landing in April 2023 after a 4 ½-month journey from Earth. Ultimately, Resilience's long trajectory offers Ispace both pros and cons. Resilience is on a path to the moon that's often referred to as a low-energy transfer. It's essentially a slow, cruising route — much like traveling to a friend's house on a bike and coasting on the downhills, using little fuel or energy. On such a path, the Resilience lander travels for hundreds of thousands of miles, soaring into deep space and waiting for the moon's gravity to naturally capture the spacecraft into lunar orbit. In contrast, other vehicles such as Firefly Aerospace's Blue Ghost and the Nova-C lander, developed by Texas-based company Intuitive Machines, have used large engines to fire themselves on a much more direct path. Intuitive Machines' latest Nova-C lander, for example, reached the moon about a week after takeoff. Compared with lunar landers developed by Ispace's competitors, Resilience is lightweight and relatively cheap with a smaller rocket engine. All the time Resilience spends in orbit allows mission operators to 'verify many kinds of systems during this long journey,' such as the vehicle's sensors, navigation and other software systems, Nozaki said. But there are downsides, too. And Nozaki said that, no matter the outcome of Resilience's trip, Ispace will abandon the low-energy transfer approach with its third mission. Ispace's upcoming lunar lander, called Apex 1.0, will be flown in partnership with Massachusetts-based company Draper, under CLPS for the Artemis program, with the aim of taking a more direct route to the moon. Reaching the moon quickly is also 'really important for our customers,' Nozaki said. These clients include research groups, companies and governments that pay Ispace to fly cargo such as science instruments on board the lunar lander. Spending months in transit can put extra wear on instruments as they are exposed to the intense radiation environment and wild temperature swings of space before they begin operating on the lunar surface, according to Ispace. Still, the company is hopeful a group of three science instruments currently on board Resilience will carry out exciting tests after the vehicle reaches the moon on Thursday. Resilience is carrying a module designed to test algae-based food production, a deep-space radiation monitor and a water electrolyzer experiment, which is a device that aims to generate hydrogen and oxygen in the lunar environment. Ispace's first lunar lander was descending toward the Atlas crater, a feature on the northeast side of the moon's near face, when it crashed in April 2023. This go-around, the company is aiming to land in a different lunar location: a 750-mile-long (1,200-kilometer) plain called Mare Frigoris — or the 'Sea of Cold' — which lies in the moon's far northern reaches. Mare Frigoris is significantly flatter than the Atlas crater region, potentially offering easier-to-navigate terrain. Ispace said in a statement that the new landing site was chosen because it offers 'flexibility.' The company plans to livestream Thursday's touchdown attempt on YouTube and X. If Resilience lands upright, Ispace will become the first commercial company outside of the US to pull off such a feat. Ispace would also join Firefly, whose Blue Ghost lander made a pristine landing in March, in becoming the only two companies to complete a fully successful touchdown of a robotic lunar lander. Intuitive Machines has landed two vehicles on the moon, both in the vicinity of the lunar south pole. Each of those spacecraft landed on its side, however, limiting the science and research the company could carry out. Both Firefly Aerospace and Intuitive Machines are contractors for NASA's Commercial Lunar Payload Services, or CLPS, initiative, which is part of the space agency's Artemis program — a framework under which NASA plans to return humans to the moon for the first time in more than 50 years. Robotic missions carried out under CLPS are meant to serve as scientific pathfinders, paving the way for astronauts' return.
Yahoo
03-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Where Will Intuitive Machines Be in 5 Years?
Intuitive Machines has come a long way since its SPAC IPO two years ago, winning lunar lander contracts and a big $4.8 billion deal to build a space communications network for NASA. The space stock is not yet profitable, but might earn its first profit next year. Five years from now, the small-cap stock could be earning well over $100 million per year. It's hard to make predictions, especially about the future. Nevertheless, I'm going to pull out and dust off the ol' crystal ball, and do my best to tell you what to expect from Intuitive Machines (NASDAQ: LUNR) stock over the next five years. But it's not going to be easy. Where to invest $1,000 right now? Our analyst team just revealed what they believe are the 10 best stocks to buy right now. Continue » Two years out from its February 2023 IPO, Intuitive Machines has already made a lot of progress. The past couple of years have seen "the most NASA-awarded commercial lunar program," run by Intuitive Machines, collect a total of four contracts to run payload deliveries to the moon -- and complete two of them. Both missions were only partially successful, however, landing intact on the moon and delivering some payloads, but toppling over and falling on their sides after landing -- a strong indication of a design flaw in the Nova-C lander. Nevertheless, the company is collecting $77 million and up from NASA for each landing attempt, and collecting additional revenue from tacking on piggyback payloads from other customers alongside the NASA deliveries. Annual revenue hit $228 million last year, triple what the company collected in 2023. Wall Street analysts forecast continued growth in the moon-supply business, too, with revenue estimated to reach $280 million this year (23% growth), and $387 million next year (38% growth). So in fact, revenues aren't just growing -- the growth rate itself is accelerating! That's the very definition of a growth stock. Granted, Intuitive Machines isn't profitable yet. Indeed, the company recorded more than $343 million in losses last year, albeit much of this was related to the cost of retiring its stock warrants. Analysts polled by S&P Global Market Intelligence anticipate much lighter losses of less than $35 million this year, and predict that by 2026, the company could earn its first (small) generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP) profit. So much for the near-term view. Now let's look into the future and consider where Intuitive Machines might be at the beginning of 2030. NASA contracts for payload delivery to the moon are currently scheduled to proceed at the rate of about one mission per year, so there won't be much growth there. At least, not until Intuitive can ensure that its weebles only wobble and don't fall down once reaching their target. For the time being, NASA is anticipating the company's IM-3 mission will go to the moon sometime in 2026, and IM-4 will launch in 2027. It hasn't committed to any further missions after that. What NASA has committed to, though, is more than enough to keep Intuitive Machines' growth engine going: a $4.8 billion, 10-year-long contract to build and operate a Near Space Network (NSN) space communications system connecting comms networks on the moon with communication satellites orbiting Earth. Worth roughly $480 million per year to Intuitive Machines, the value of this contract alone accounts for more than 100% of all the revenue Intuitive is currently expected to collect over the next five years (which add up to less than $2.3 billion currently), according to Wall Street analyst estimates. This could mean any of three things, it seems to me, ranging from option 1 (Wall Street analysts can't do math very well) to option 2 (analysts can do math, but are holding off on updating their forecasts for Intuitive Machines until we learn more about the NSN contract), to option 3 (Wall Street doesn't think the contract will materialize, or for some reason won't be worth the entire $4.8 billion to Intuitive Machines). If, however, you take Intuitive Machines' big NASA contract at face value, the implications seem pretty clear. Over the next five years, Intuitive Machines' annual revenue will likely average at least twice what it gets today, and revenue five years from now is likely to be far larger than what Wall Street analysts currently forecast. And seeing as these forecasts already anticipate the company growing to $625 million in annual revenue, with $113 million of that profit (a robust 18% net profit margin), the chances look good to me that Intuitive Machines will actually end up earning more profit than the analysts are forecasting as well. With Intuitive Machines stock currently valued at almost precisely $1 billion, I calculate the stock costs just over 4 times trailing sales at present. By my calculations, that's near the top of the range of acceptable valuations for space stocks that are not yet profitable. The last time Intuitive Machines stock fell below this valuation, I opened my first position in the stock. If it gets cheaper again, I plan to buy even more. Before you buy stock in Intuitive Machines, consider this: The Motley Fool Stock Advisor analyst team just identified what they believe are the for investors to buy now… and Intuitive Machines wasn't one of them. The 10 stocks that made the cut could produce monster returns in the coming years. Consider when Netflix made this list on December 17, 2004... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you'd have $611,271!* Or when Nvidia made this list on April 15, 2005... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you'd have $684,068!* Now, it's worth noting Stock Advisor's total average return is 889% — a market-crushing outperformance compared to 162% for the S&P 500. Don't miss out on the latest top 10 list, available when you join . See the 10 stocks » *Stock Advisor returns as of April 28, 2025 Rich Smith has positions in Intuitive Machines. The Motley Fool has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. Where Will Intuitive Machines Be in 5 Years? was originally published by The Motley Fool Sign in to access your portfolio
Yahoo
01-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Here's Why Intuitive Machines Stock Is a buy Before May 14
It has won four NASA contracts to put lunar landers on the Moon, the first two being partial successes. It has also won a $4.8 billion contract to build a communications network between Earth and the Moon. The next earnings report should say how it plans to improve its landers and begin building its network. Call it "strike two" for Intuitive Machines (NASDAQ: LUNR). I was probably as excited as any other space investor when, early last year, Intuitive Machines landed a U.S. spacecraft on the Moon for the first time in more than 50 years. Like many other space investors, I shrugged off the fact that the company's Nova-C class lunar lander didn't exactly "stick the landing," instead toppling over and ending up on its side. It was their first attempt, after all, and they did at least get the spacecraft down in one piece, even if not entirely vertical. Where to invest $1,000 right now? Our analyst team just revealed what they believe are the 10 best stocks to buy right now. Continue » That was then, though, and this is now. One year after its first attempt, Intuitive landed a second Nova-C on the Moon in March. And just like the first lander, this one too ended up on its side, suggesting there may be a flaw in the lunar lander's design, in its software -- or both. Investors are understandably disappointed in the company's technical performance, and Intuitive stock is down nearly 40% over the last couple of months as a result. And yet, I'm still convinced Intuitive Machines stock is a "buy." Here's why. Why is that? Listen, I won't sugarcoat the company's troubles. I won't call them "failures," but I certainly can't call these flubbed landings "successes." They are serious setbacks for Intuitive Machines. The company's at real risk of squandering its lead in the race to establish a track record for successful delivery of payloads to the Moon for NASA, especially given that its rival Firefly Aerospace nailed its Blue Ghost Mission 1 landing on the Moon just days before Intuitive not-quite-failed. As a result, NASA now has two lunar landing companies to choose from in awarding future contracts, only one of which has a 100% successful track record on Moon landings. And it isn't Intuitive Machines. That said, NASA has already gone ahead and awarded Intuitive Machines two more landing contracts, which give the company two more chances to work the bugs out of its lander, its software (or both). So long as it doesn't squander the opportunity, there's every reason to believe Intuitive Machines can still win this space race. And if it succeeds, there's every reason to believe the company will win even more landing contracts from NASA, keeping this Moon-landing business up and running. But that's not all. In fact, it's not even the most important reason why investors should want to own Intuitive Machines stock. The most important reason to be optimistic about Intuitive Machines stock is the fact that NASA awarded the company a much bigger $4.8 billion contract to build and operate a space communications network between Earth and the Moon for the next 10 years. When that contract was first announced, it sparked a four-month stock-price run that lifted Intuitive shares as high as $23 a share, nearly three times what the stock sells for today. And that contract has absolutely nothing to do with whether Intuitive's landers land straight up or face-plant when they reach the Moon. It's a completely different line of business and worth a lot more money to Intuitive than it will get from launching landers to the Moon at $100 million a pop. Intuitive Machines reported first-quarter earnings more than a month ago, meaning investors still have a couple of months to wait before the next earnings report rolls around -- probably on or about May 14. (In 2024, May 14 was the date the company reported Q2 earnings. Although Intuitive hasn't announced a date for this year's Q2 report, logically, it should arrive around about the same date as last year.) Once that earnings report does come out, I'll personally be very interested to hear what management has to say about any efforts it's making to re-design Nova-C to ensure that the "third time's the charm," and its next landing attempt in 2026 will be more successful than its two previous tries. But I'll be even more interested in hearing about the company's timeline for rolling out its Near Space Network for NASA and starting to rake in revenue for providing communications between Earth and the Moon. I won't be the only one listening in, however, and my hunch is that, so long as management gives good answers to both questions, its stock will perform well even in the absence of profits (which no one is expecting Intuitive to report for another couple of years after all). In the meantime, I plan to spend the next couple of months waiting and watching for pullbacks in the stock, such as the big one we saw recently when the stock market panicked over President Trump's tariffs plan. It's precisely because I expect Intuitive Machines stock to go up after earnings that I want to buy the stock on the cheap before those earnings come out. Before you buy stock in Intuitive Machines, consider this: The Motley Fool Stock Advisor analyst team just identified what they believe are the for investors to buy now… and Intuitive Machines wasn't one of them. The 10 stocks that made the cut could produce monster returns in the coming years. Consider when Netflix made this list on December 17, 2004... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you'd have $610,327!* Or when Nvidia made this list on April 15, 2005... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you'd have $667,581!* Now, it's worth noting Stock Advisor's total average return is 882% — a market-crushing outperformance compared to 161% for the S&P 500. Don't miss out on the latest top 10 list, available when you join . See the 10 stocks » *Stock Advisor returns as of April 28, 2025 Rich Smith has positions in Intuitive Machines. The Motley Fool has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. Here's Why Intuitive Machines Stock Is a buy Before May 14 was originally published by The Motley Fool Sign in to access your portfolio
Yahoo
29-04-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Intuitive Machines Announces Date for First Quarter 2025 Financial Results Conference Call
HOUSTON, April 29, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Intuitive Machines, Inc. (Nasdaq: LUNR) ('Intuitive Machines') ('Company') announced today that it will release its financial results for the first quarter of 2025 on Tuesday, May 13, 2025, before the market opens. Following the news release, the Company will host a conference call the same day at 8:30 am ET to discuss the results. To participate in the call, please register here. Once registered, participants can dial in from their phone using a dial-in and PIN number that will be provided to them. A webcast replay will be available on the investors portion of the Intuitive Machines website at Please visit the Investor Relations website at on Tuesday, May 13, 2025, to view the earnings release before the conference call. About Intuitive Machines Intuitive Machines is a diversified space technology, infrastructure, and services company focused on fundamentally disrupting lunar access economics. In 2024, Intuitive Machines successfully soft-landed the Company's Nova-C class lunar lander, on the Moon, returning the United States to the lunar surface for the first time since 1972. In 2025, Intuitive Machines returned to the lunar south pole with a second lander. The Company's products and services are focused through three pillars of space commercialization: Delivery Services, Data Transmission Services, and Infrastructure as a Service. For more information, please visit Contacts For investor inquiries:investors@ For media inquiries:press@ This press release was published by a CLEAR® Verified in to access your portfolio
Yahoo
03-04-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Redwire (NYSE:RDW) Appoints Mike Gold As President; 17% Stock Drop Follows
Redwire has recently experienced a notable executive change with the appointment of Mike Gold as the President of its Civil and International Space business, aiming to broaden its global footprint. Despite this significant leadership shift, Redwire's stock fell by 17% over the last week, amid broader market downturns driven by President Trump's tariffs on U.S. trade partners that have affected tech and retail sectors heavily. While Redwire doesn't operate primarily in affected industries, the overarching negative market sentiment has likely impacted its shares, contributing to the decline seen alongside a 5% drop in discretionary and tech shares. Every company has risks, and we've spotted 3 weaknesses for Redwire (of which 1 shouldn't be ignored!) you should know about. The best AI stocks today may lie beyond giants like Nvidia and Microsoft. Find the next big opportunity with these 23 smaller AI-focused companies with strong growth potential through early-stage innovation in machine learning, automation, and data intelligence that could fund your retirement. Over the past year, Redwire Corporation achieved a total return of 111.24%, significantly outperforming both the US Market and the Aerospace & Defense industry. Key contributors to this performance include the successful launch of innovative space technologies, such as the Sentinel camera on the Nova-C lunar lander and advancements in bioprinting human heart tissue in microgravity, showcasing Redwire's strides in space innovation. Additionally, multiple contracts and partnerships, like those with NASA for drug investigations aboard the ISS and with Orion Space Solutions for the Mako spacecraft, have solidified Redwire's position in the space sector. These developments are complemented by strong projected revenue growth, with guidance for 2025 ranging between US$535 million and US$605 million, marking a continued expansion trajectory despite recent challenges. Assess Redwire's future earnings estimates with our detailed growth reports. This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. We provide commentary based on historical data and analyst forecasts only using an unbiased methodology and our articles are not intended to be financial advice. It does not constitute a recommendation to buy or sell any stock, and does not take account of your objectives, or your financial situation. We aim to bring you long-term focused analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material. Simply Wall St has no position in any stocks mentioned. Companies discussed in this article include NYSE:RDW. Have feedback on this article? Concerned about the content? with us directly. Alternatively, email editorial-team@ Sign in to access your portfolio
