Intuitive Machines' Nova-C “Odysseus” lander deploys from the upper stage of SpaceX's Falcon 9 rocket to launch the IM-1 mission.
NASA TV
shares Intuitive machines It jumped for the second day in a row after the company issued an update stating that the moon landing mission was in “excellent health.”
The Texas-based lunar company launched its inaugural cargo mission, known as IM-1, on a SpaceX rocket early Thursday morning. In an update Thursday evening, Intuitive wrote that the lander was operational and its batteries were “fully charged.” The company revealed a minor problem in the spacecraft's navigation system, but said that the problem had been resolved by updating the software.
Intuitive Machines stock jumped as much as 30% in early trading Friday before paring gains to trade up about 16% from its previous close of $6.70 a share.
The stock rose 35% on Thursday after the successful launch of the IM-1 mission. Since the launch of the IM-1, Intuitive Machines stock has risen 75% as of Friday's trading high.
However, the company's shares are still trading below their initial post-SPAC merger prices a year ago.
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Andrew Chanin, CEO of ProcureAM, which operates “UFO” The space-focused ETF confirmed to CNBC that it was “never shocked to see volatility related to a space company, especially a stripped-down space company” and noted that the not-yet-profitable Intuitive Machines is a relatively small company in terms of market size.
“We encourage them,” Chanin said. “And to the extent that they can show success here… we hope that brings more belief that this is something that is doable.”
The IM-1 lander, which carries government and commercial research payloads, is expected to spend about eight days traveling to the moon before making a landing attempt on February 22.
“There is a tremendous amount of focus on the moon right now. Most investors don't have much, if any, exposure to space right now to the extent that American commercial companies, [NASA]“If foreign governments see success on the Moon, it seems that this will only encourage other entities to increase their focus and spending on the Moon,” Chanin said.
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