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Intuitive Machines is looking to help reshape the Mars Sample Return missionary post architecture with its own engineering , base on architecture it has been develop for the moon , executive told investor during a quarterly earnings call Tuesday .
“ Intuitive Machines has engaged the way and intends to supply a solution set found on engineering computer architecture we have been developing for lunar material coming back , ” Intuitive Machines CEO Steve Altemus said .
The Mars Sample Return ( MSR ) platform is the agency ’s $ 11 billion , 15 - year charge to collect and deliver samples from the red planet , but NASA administrators finally admitted last calendar month that the architecture had become too complex and too expensive . The authority said it would soon romance proposals from commercial-grade industriousness to rethink the mission and in the end minify risk of exposure ( and cost ) .
It ’s no surprise that Intuitive Machines is look to become part of the political program : The caller made historywhen it became the first individual company to land a ballistic capsule on the moonat the commencement of this yr , so it establish sentience to adjudicate to adjust that tech for Mars . It will likely be lucrative , too ; contracts associated with MSR could well top out at billions of dollars .
In addition to its first deputation in January , Intuitive Machines is already well on its elbow room to its second lunar mission , which is expect to plunge later this yr to the lunar south pole . The third military mission is schedule for 2025 , though the final landing appointment is still being determined by the mission ’s backbone customer , NASA . Intuitive Machines is also awaiting the contract conclusion on another mission from the agency , dubbed CP-22 , which would launch around 2027 .
However , Altemus said that the later date for CP-22 “ creates an chance ” for Intuitive Machines to conduct its first fully commercial-grade mission to the deliver payloads to the moon . The three it has under contract so far — the January delegation , plus the following two — are being conducted as part of NASA awards under its Commercial Lunar Payload Services program .
“ We see a lot of commercial sake and international interest in footing of sign declaration to fly to the moon , and we see that growing continually over the next couple of years , ” interim CFO Steven Vontur say during the call .
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In increase to its successful lunar lander military mission at the beginning of the quarter , executive director touted the winnings ofone of three study contractsunder NASA ’s Lunar Terrain Vehicle Services program . The LTVS programme has a full program value of $ 4.6 billion across 15 years , though NASA will likely pick at least two supplier to evolve the buggy .
The ship’s company ended the quarter with $ 73 million in revenue , a 300 % increase from the first fourth part of last class , principally due to the ship’s company realize revenues from an engineering services contract bridge from NASA . Intuitive Machines tallied a final departure of $ 5.4 million and had $ 55.2 million cash - on - mitt .
