Bunch of big nasa heads formed the company seeing how space is going to be privatized. Massive potential with IM2 lander, lunar rover (1 of 3 companies in final design stage for contract), and lunar satellites. Their stock tanked after their first lander tipped over due to them forgetting to remove a landing laser safety. That is an error, but you can bet it will never happen again. They were also first to land on the moon in decades. China pressure will increase lunar budget within gov.
I don’t want to dox myself too much but I’m an engineer and all of their calls and interviews sound like they really freakin know what they’re doing.
Here is the ceo: Mr. Altemus is co-founder, President, and Chief Executive Officer of Intuitive Machines. Before founding Intuitive Machines in December 2012, Mr. Altemus was appointed to serve as the Deputy Director of NASA’s Johnson Space Center, a position he held until June 2013. Formerly Director of Engineering from July 2006 to December 2012, Mr. Altemus served as the leader and steward of Johnson Space Center’s engineering capabilities in support of NASA’s human spaceflight programs, projects, and technology activities. Mr. Altemus is also a director of Intuitive Aviation, a subsidiary of Intuitive Machines. Mr. Altemus received a B.S. in Aeronautical Engineering from Embry Riddle Aeronautical University, where he now serves as a member of the Engineering Advisory Board, and an M.S. in Engineering Management from the University of Central Florida. He joined NASA’s Kennedy Space Center and the Space Shuttle Program in 1989, where he held progressively more responsible positions working in Space Shuttle operations, launch, and landing activities. He served as the Columbia Reconstruction Director after the loss of the Space Shuttle Columbia on February 1, 2003. In January 2005, he joined Johnson Space Center, serving as the Deputy Director of Engineering, and was subsequently selected as Director in July 2006. Mr. Altemus is an award-winning engineer and leader. He has been presented with the Federal Engineer of the Year award from the National Society of Professional Engineers, Distinguished Alumni Award from Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, and Johnson Space Center’s Engineering Legacy Award.
Q: (from u/LittleWhite0nRice) You seem really knowledgeable on this industry. I’ve done a lot of DD on them and they seem great. But my question is: what’s their future outlook for expansion? It seems like most space exploration companies are private and won’t use LUNR so their consumer is NASA which can be defunded easily. Why keep spending money going to the moon?
A: Lander missions and rover are the short term. Lunar satellites are the long term. Providing the communications network for lunar truckstop to Mars is a pretty sci fi concept but thats how they’d go from 1-off missions and a market cap of $500M to something in the double digit $B. This plan is already in action- “The [IM3] mission is also scheduled to carry a data relay satellite, Khon2, which it will deploy to travel to the L2 Earth-Moon libration point. The mission can also carry approximately 1000 kg of secondary payloads to lunar transfer orbit.” This is currently scheduled for Oct 25.