Intuitive Machines-led Moon RACER Team Awarded NASA Lunar Terrain Vehicle Contract to Support the Agency’s Artemis Campaign

HOUSTON, April 03, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- NASA has awarded Intuitive Machines, Inc. (Nasdaq: LUNR, LUNRW) (“Intuitive Machines”) (“Company”) $30 million as a prime contractor to complete a Lunar Terrain Vehicle Services Feasibility Assessment. The contract tasks the Company’s global team with creating a feasibility roadmap to develop and deploy a Lunar Terrain Vehicle (“LTV”) on the Moon using Intuitive Machines’ Nova-D cargo-class lunar lander. The first phase award marks the Company’s entrance into human spaceflight operations within NASA’s $4.6 billion LTV Services project.

“This procurement strategically aligns with the Company’s flight-proven capability to deliver payloads to the surface of the Moon under the agency’s Commercial Lunar Payload Services initiative, further solidifying our position as a proven commercial contractor in lunar exploration,” said Intuitive Machines CEO Steve Altemus. “Our global team is on a path to provide essential lunar infrastructure services to NASA in a project that would allow the Company to retain ownership of the vehicle for commercial utilization during periods of non-NASA activity over approximately ten years of lunar surface activity.”

Intuitive Machines’ Moon Reusable Autonomous Crewed Exploration Rover (RACER) global team partners, including AVL, Boeing, Michelin, and Northrop Grumman, intend to provide a robust LTV design architecture with advanced power management, autonomous driving, communications, and navigation systems for lunar exploration.

The Company believes the Moon RACER team is the most comprehensively equipped choice for delivering and deploying a lunar terrain vehicle that meets NASA requirements. As the prime contractor, Intuitive Machines intends to apply its experience as the only United States commercial company to deliver science and technology data from the surface of the Moon to lead systems integration, spacecraft design, energy management, avionics, autonomous navigation, sensors, controls, mission planning, operations, and training with the following teammate capabilities.

AVL, a global mobility technology company and automotive industry leader in the development, simulation, and testing of vehicle systems brings its expertise in battery electric vehicles, propulsion solutions and autonomous driving. Specifically, AVL will focus on drivetrain, steering and suspension to help make lunar surface mobility a reality. AVL’s scalable expert development tools and technologies will help design, test and power a lunar terrain vehicle in extreme environments associated with the Moon and beyond.