Despite its challenges, Intuitive Machines’ Odysseus moon lander is elevating the profile of the area sector amongst traders, in line with Benchmark analyst Josh Sullivan.
Odysseus made historical past final week when it grew to become the primary industrial lander to efficiently attain the moon. Since then, the mission has run into its share of hurdles — it emerged that Odysseus had fallen on its facet throughout touchdown, and the mission is now being reduce quick.
“Space is captivating, yet [as] the saying goes, space is hard,” Sullivan instructed MarketWatch through e mail. “The entire space industry is experiencing a renaissance given strategic national interests as well as commercial enabling technologies.”
Related: Intuitive Machines cuts Odysseus moon mission quick and inventory continues to slip
In explicit, Sullivan pointed to NASA’s Artemis program to return U.S. astronauts to the moon, and to the area company’s Commercial Lunar Payload Services initiative to ship science and expertise to the moon’s floor. “Over the next several years, between the Artemis program, CLPS, [International Space Station] replacement and geopolitics, space will be of increasing investor focus,” he mentioned.
“In our opinion, [Intuitive Machines’] IM-1 mission absolutely is a catalyst for reigniting investor interest,” Sullivan added. “Look at the level of global media coverage, retail investor interest and industry accolades.”
Benchmark has a purchase score for Intuitive Machines
LUNR,
Intuitive Machines shares have risen 114.2% within the final three months, outpacing the S&P 500 index’s
SPX
acquire of 11.5% over the identical interval. The inventory ended Friday’s session up 15.8%, lifted by the moon touchdown, however was down 34.1percenton Monday, placing it on tempo for its largest share lower since Feb. 23, 2023, when it fell 75.24%, Dow Jones Market Data present.
Related: Intuitive Machines’ inventory sinks 32% after Odysseus moon lander falls on its facet
“Given the known challenges, some degradation of the mission profile should be expected,” Sullivan instructed MarketWatch. “NASA created the CLPS program full well appreciating that there would be triumphs and challenges, and that no one challenge would derail the return to the moon.”
Intuitive Machines’ Nova-C landers, every of which has slight car modifications, are scheduled for 3 missions to the moon, in line with the corporate. The firm’s IM-2 mission is predicted to occur later this 12 months, reaching some extent nearer to the moon’s south pole than the IM-1 mission did.
“Focusing on any of the imperfections of the IM-1 mission is missing the forest for the tress — or the moon for the craters,” Sullivan mentioned. “[Intuitive Machines] will be sending IM-2 later this year back to the moon with larger payloads and lessons learned. And we expect investor [and] public interest in space to increase with each high-profile mission.”
Source web site: www.marketwatch.com
