New York, May 26, 2026, 16:05 EDT
- Intuitive Machines shares dropped 8.1% to $35.16 after a volatile session.
- NASA’s new push for a Moon Base brought more attention to lunar rover awards. Astrolab and Lunar Outpost have made gains in the race.
- The drop came as most space stocks and the Nasdaq traded higher.
Intuitive Machines Inc. shares slid late Tuesday after NASA’s new lunar mobility updates seemed to exclude the company from a hotly watched rover award, hitting a stock that had gained with the wider space-trade push.
Shares dropped 8.1% to $35.16, after trading as high as $45.42 and as low as $31.60 earlier in the session. Volume topped 45 million, much heavier than usual for the Nasdaq-listed lunar infrastructure company.
The decision drew attention because the Lunar Terrain Vehicle, or LTV, was seen as a top contract in NASA’s effort to set up a lasting operation at the Moon’s south pole. NASA said in 2024 the LTV services contract could total up to $4.6 billion.
NASA picked Astrolab as one of two firms to supply a crewed lunar rover for Artemis astronauts, the company said Tuesday. Astrolab said the task order is worth around $219 million, with rovers targeted to land on the Moon by 2028. “We’re honored that NASA has selected Astrolab,” founder and CEO Jaret Matthews said. Business Wire
Lunar Outpost posted on its website that NASA picked it to build the Eagle LTV for Artemis missions. Investing.com reported Intuitive Machines was left out of the rover contracts, and shares saw a brief trading halt on volatility.
Just days before, Intuitive Machines told investors it was waiting on NASA awards after putting in proposals for CLPS and LTV jobs through the agency’s Ignition push. CLPS, or Commercial Lunar Payload Services, is NASA’s system for buying private Moon deliveries.
Intuitive Machines is still lined up for work with NASA. The agency’s Moon Base planning website points to the company’s IM-3 mission and its Nova-C lander Trinity delivering payloads to Reiner Gamma under CLPS.
Intuitive Machines said first-quarter revenue jumped almost three times to $186.7 million this month, with backlog hitting $1.1 billion in contracted work not yet counted as revenue. The company also posted positive adjusted EBITDA, removing interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization.
Chief Executive Steve Altemus said the company “continues to execute, grow, and win new business at record pace.” He added that the next phase of the space economy is about companies that can build, connect and run infrastructure at scale. Intuitive Machines
Tape on Intuitive Machines was rough. Firefly Aerospace jumped 19.5%, Redwire was up 26.5% and Rocket Lab tacked on 4.9%. Investors kept chasing space stocks linked to lunar flights, launch providers and satellite plays.
The wider market offered scant relief as the drop played out. Nasdaq Composite added around 1.0% and the S&P 500 was up 0.5% on Tuesday, according to Reuters market data, led by a rebound in tech stocks after U.S. markets were closed for Memorial Day.
SpaceX’s upcoming IPO is fueling a hunt for listed space stocks. Reuters said last week that SpaceX is aiming for around a $1.75 trillion valuation, while another Reuters story had space-related ETFs drawing in $1.3 billion over the past month. Morningstar ETF analyst Bryan Armour compared the rush to what happens whenever “something new and shiny appears on the scene.” Reuters
Risks for Intuitive Machines are easier to see now: not every space contractor is going to benefit the same way. The company is still tied to award timing, budget swings, launch plans and how its missions perform—risks Intuitive Machines has already listed in filings. If investors think missing LTV work cuts the company’s position in NASA’s Moon Base project, Tuesday’s selloff may not just be a quick dip.
