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By Akash Sriram
March 7, 2025 – 7:33 AM PST
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(Reuters) – Intuitive Machines’ (LUNR.O) shares tumbled 23% on Friday after the company confirmed its second moon lander, Athena, landed on its side a day earlier, mirroring the company’s first lunar landing attempt last year.
The six-legged Athena lander touched down at a site about 100 miles (160 km) from the moon’s south pole, but Intuitive Machines said on Friday the mission ended due to the spacecraft being on its side after completing several mission milestones.
“With the direction of the sun, the orientation of the solar panels, and extreme cold temperatures in the crater, Intuitive Machines does not expect Athena to recharge,” the space company said.
The company’s stock is set for its biggest drop in more than a year, if losses hold. Shares of the Houston, Texas-based company closed 20% lower on Thursday after more than doubling in the past 12 months up to last close.
Athena carried 11 payloads and scientific instruments to the moon, including a drill to check for water ice, other resources in the lunar soil, the first data center and cellular network on the moon.
Separately, SpaceX’s Starship mega rocket, the largest in the world, exploded on Thursday, minutes after launch, raining debris off the coast of Florida and the Bahamas, in what was the Elon Musk-led company’s second straight failure.
As part of NASA’s strategy to rekindle lunar exploration with reduced costs, Intuitive is among several companies leading the United States’ private-sector return to the moon.
Austin-based Firefly Aerospace over the weekend celebrated a clean touchdown of its Blue Ghost lander, marking the most successful soft landing by a private company to date.
“It (sideways landing) may have an impact on (Intuitive’s) credibility, but we still think that they are one of the better positioned companies to capitalize on the industry,” said Andres Sheppard, senior analyst at Cantor Fitzgerald.
“In our view at least, it’s not indicative of the company now being in a dire situation.”
Reporting by Akash Sriram in Bengaluru; Editing by Tasim Zahid and Maju Samuel
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