NASA selects Intuitive Machines for communications and navigation services on the Moon

PARIS — Intuitive Machines has won a NASA contract worth up to $4.8 billion to provide communications and navigation services on the Moon in support of the Artemis lunar exploration campaign.

NASA announced on Sept. 17 that it has selected Intuitive Machines to support its Near Space Network, an existing system that provides communications services for NASA missions in low Earth orbit and cislunar space. The contract, officially known as Subcategory 2.2 GEO for Cislunar Relay Services, has a maximum value of $4.82 billion if all options are exercised.

The indefinite-delivery, indefinite-quantity contract has an initial base term of five years beginning Oct. 1, with an option for an additional five-year period. The agency did not disclose how much had been initially committed under the contract.

The contract’s first task order will support “the progressive validation of lunar relay capabilities/services” that NASA plans to use in support of Artemis. These services would be used by robotic and human lunar landing missions and other spacecraft, including lunar rovers.

These capabilities, the agency said, would reduce dependence on the Deep Space Network. That antenna network, already strained by supporting robotic missions beyond cislunar space, was further strained by supporting the Artemis-1 flight in 2022, limiting access for those other missions.

“This contract marks a turning point in Intuitive Machines’ leadership in space communications and navigation,” said Steve Altemus, CEO of Intuitive Machines, in a statement. “We are excited to work as a team with NASA to support the Artemis campaign and efforts to expand the lunar economy.”

Neither NASA nor Intuitive Machines provided details on how the company will provide these services beyond using satellites in lunar orbit. The company had previously said it was working with York Space Systems to develop a series of satellites called Khon that would provide these services.

NASA did not immediately disclose how many offers it received for the contract. Several companies have expressed interest in developing lunar relay services, working with either NASA or the European Space Agency’s Moonlight initiative.

Among them is Surrey Satellite Technology Limited (SSTL), which is building the Lunar Pathfinder spacecraft as a precursor to Moonlight. This spacecraft will fly to the Moon in 2026 as part of Firefly Aerospace’s second lunar landing mission, part of NASA’s Commercial Lunar Payload Services program.

“We’re going to need more than one system in the lunar economy,” said Sir Martin Sweeting, founder and chairman of SSTL, during a panel discussion on lunar communications and navigation systems on September 18 as part of World Space Business Week, comparing them to navigation systems such as GPS and Galileo. “In the future, we need to ensure that there is interoperability.”

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