Intuitive Machines

Data relay (KHoN)
All five of our Data Relay Satellites (Khon) utilize our rideshare services to place the satellites into a variety of orbits to support continuous data relay services of satellites in cislunar space and lunar surface systems. The Khon satellites are developed under contract with York Space Systems and are privately owned and operated by Intuitive Machines.

Our Lunar Data Network (LDN) is a private and secure network that supports missions and is evolving to meet future cislunar market needs. Offered commercially, LDN supports line-of-sight and data relay services for spacecraft in cislunar space and systems on the lunar surface. Our secure, interoperable LDN comprises of Nova Control, global ground stations, base-band units installed at each ground station, and lunar data relay satellites starting in 2023.

Universal Re-entry Vehicle (URV)

Payload sizes start at 21.5 kg for the smallest ISS deployed version.
(Has been removed from the website).

Rideshare

Getting to space should be easy and custom-tailored to fit your needs. Our lunar transfer orbit delivery services can accommodate up to 1000 kg of payload and deliver customers into a myriad of high-energy orbits. We launch payloads for deployment after launch vehicle separation and from the steadfast platform of our landers in lunar orbit.

Link

Product/Service - Micro-Nova

Classification: Surface Spacecraft

Category: Hopper
Drone
Moon Drone
Space Drone

Status: Development

First launch: 2023

Drone / Hopper

On our second mission, we'll land and deploy a small rocket-fueled drone, which will use its thrusters to hop across the lunar surface - then, for the 1st time ever, descend into pitch black craters.

Intuitive Machines won the largest of those awards for development of a “hopper” that can carry a one-kilogram payload up to 2.5 kilometers across the lunar surface. “That’s going to give us high-resolution mapping of maybe volatiles on the surface of the moon,” Bridenstine said. “It’s going to help us understand how to pinpoint very precise landing spots on the surface of the moon.”

micro nova(µNova)
We meet the demands of science and technology by providing extreme lunar mobility with µNova (Micro Nova) Hopper.

µNova is a propulsive drone that deploys off of a Nova-C lander and hops across the lunar surface on our IM-2 mission.
The µNova Hopper can accommodate up to 1 kg of science payloads and expand the exploration footprint to 25 km from the initial landing location.
µNova can also hop into and out of permanently shaded regions (PSR), providing a first look into undiscovered areas that may provide the critical science needed to sustain a human presence on the Moon.

With landing gear, Micro-Nova is about 76.2-centimeters in length, width, and height, which is roughly the size of five one-dollar bills. Intuitive Machines engineers will mount Micro-Nova on a nearly four-meter Nova-C lander, which is about the size of a Volkswagen Beetle. Nova-C will deliver Micro-Nova to the lunar south pole in December 2022.

On July 16, 2021, NASA and Intuitive Machines finalized a $41.6 million Tipping Point contract to develop, fly, and operate a deployable “hopper lander” on the Moon. For this mission design, Micro-Nova can carry a 1-kilogram payload more than 2.5 kilometers to access lunar craters and enable high-resolution surveying of the lunar surface under the flight path.

Created: 2023-02-10

Updated: 2023-03-04

Link

Sources

Most sources should be linked in the texts and headings as revealed by mouse-over, but here are they listed for visibility.

[1] https://www.intuitivemachines.com/urv

[2] https://spacewatch.global/2020/02/intuitive-machines-unveils-2021-moon-landing-navigation-approach/

[3] https://www.nasa.gov/press-release/nasa-selects-first-commercial-moon-landing-services-for-artemis-program

[4] https://spacenews.com/intuitive-machines-secures-launch-contract-wins-lawsuit/

News, Research, Projects and Patents

Title	Type	Date	Summary
CLPS - The Start of the Lunar Economy?	Article	2022-03-13
Space companies face difficult investment environment	2022-10-11
For lunar cargo delivery, NASA accepts risk in return for low prices	News	2021-05-03
NASA Selects Intuitive Machines to Deliver Lunar Ice Drill in 2022	News	2020-10-16	NASA has selected Intuitive Machines to deliver the Polar Resources Ice Mining Experiment (PRIME-1) drill, combined with a mass spectrometer, to the Moon by December 2022.

Similar Organizations

Adventus Interstellar

Pulqui XXI

Commercial Lander, Commercial Lunar Lander

Early stage

Astrobotic

Peregrine, Griffin

Commercial Lunar Lander, Transport Service (LEO-Moon), Commercial Lander

Development

Blastoff

Lunar 1

Commercial Rover, Commercial Lunar Lander, Space Entertainment

Blastoff! (Spacelab)

Dormant

Blue Origin

Integrated Lander Vehicle (ILV), Blue Moon

Human Landing System, Commercial Lunar Lander

Development

Draper Laboratory

SERIES-2 Lander

Transport Service (LEO-Moon), Commercial Rover, Commercial Lunar Lander

Development

Firefly Aerospace

Blue Ghost

Commercial Lunar Lander, Transport Service (LEO-Moon), Commercial Lander

Development

Firehawk Aerospace

Hardware, Commercial Lunar Lander

Development

Galactic Suite Design

Galactic Suite Space Resort

Commercial Space Station, Commercial Lunar Lander

Dormant

Golden Spike Company

Commercial Lunar Lander

Dormant

GTL

Hyperion

Transport Service (Re-Entry), Transport Service (LEO-Moon), Commercial Lander, Commercial Lunar Lander, Space Tug, Orbital Transportation

Early stage

Interorbital Systems

LunarStation

Commercial Lander, Commercial Lunar Lander

Development

ispace

HAKUTO-R, Blueprint Moon, Series 1, Series 2

Transport Service (LEO-Moon), Commercial Lunar Lander, Lunar Data Analytics

Development

Israel Aerospace Industries

Beresheet

Transport Service (LEO-Moon), Commercial Lunar Lander

Development

Kepler Shipyards

Spacediving Suit

Space Suits & Garments, Spacediving, Commercial Lunar Lander, Surface Habitats

Concept, Dormant

Lockheed Martin

McCandless, MCB

Transport Service (LEO-Moon), Commercial Lunar Lander, Human Landing System

Concept

Lunar Cargo

OPLONAS, MACEDONAS

Commercial Lunar Lander, Commercial Lander

Concept

Masten Space Systems

Moon Lander XL-1

Transport Service (LEO-Moon), Commercial Lunar Lander, Landing Pads

Acquired, Development

OHB

LSAS (Lunar Surface Access Service)

Transport Service (LEO-Moon), Commercial Lunar Lander

Early stage

ORBITBeyond

Transport Service (LEO-Moon), Commercial Lunar Lander

Early stage

PTS

ALINA

Transport Service (LEO-Moon), Commercial Lunar Lander

Development

PTS

Audi Quattro Lunar Rover

Commercial Lunar Lander, Commercial Rover

Concept

Pythom

Olympus, Pythom Spaceship

Commercial Lander, Commercial Lunar Lander, Transport Service (Re-Entry), Commercial Space Station

Early stage

Qosmosys

Zeus, ZeusX

Transport Service (LEO-Moon), Commercial Lander, Commercial Lunar Lander

Early stage

SpaceDev

Near Earth Asteroid Prospector (NEAP), Dream Chaser

Commercial Lunar Lander

Dormant, Acquired

SpaceIL

Beresheet

Transport Service (LEO-Moon), Commercial Lunar Lander

Development, Demonstrated

The Exploration Company

Nyx

Transport Service (Earth-LEO), Transport Service (LEO-Moon), In-Space Manufacturing, Microgravity Flight Service (LEO), Microgravity Flight Service (Reusable Satellite), Commercial Lander, Commercial Lunar Lander

Development

Transorbital

Trailblazer

Commercial Lunar Lander, Transport Service (LEO-Moon)

Transorbital

Dormant

Tyvak

Transport Service (LEO-Moon), Commercial Lunar Lander

Concept

UARX

LOLA, LUCAS, OSSIE

Transport Service (LEO-Moon), Commercial Lunar Lander, Space Tug, In-Space Logistics

Early stage

ULA

ACES

Transport Service (LEO-Moon), Commercial Lunar Lander, Space Tug, In-Space Logistics

Concept

Astrobotic

Peregrine, Griffin

Commercial Lunar Lander, Transport Service (LEO-Moon), Commercial Lander

Development

Cislunar Space Development Company

Space Tug, Transport Service (LEO-GEO), Transport Service (LEO-Moon), In-Space Logistics

Early stage

Crow Industries

Transport Service (LEO-Moon), ISRU (In Situ Resource Utilization), Space Tug, In-Space Logistics

Concept

Draper Laboratory

SERIES-2 Lander

Transport Service (LEO-Moon), Commercial Rover, Commercial Lunar Lander

Development

Firefly Aerospace

Blue Ghost

Commercial Lunar Lander, Transport Service (LEO-Moon), Commercial Lander

Development

Gama Space

Transport Service (LEO-GEO), Transport Service (LEO-Moon)

Development

Gryphon Technologies

Nuclear Fission Power, Orbital Transportation, Resources - Energy, Hardware, Transport Service (LEO-Moon)

Development

GTL

Hyperion

Transport Service (Re-Entry), Transport Service (LEO-Moon), Commercial Lander, Commercial Lunar Lander, Space Tug, Orbital Transportation

Early stage

ispace

HAKUTO-R, Blueprint Moon, Series 1, Series 2

Transport Service (LEO-Moon), Commercial Lunar Lander, Lunar Data Analytics

Development

Israel Aerospace Industries

Beresheet

Transport Service (LEO-Moon), Commercial Lunar Lander

Development

Lockheed Martin

McCandless, MCB

Transport Service (LEO-Moon), Commercial Lunar Lander, Human Landing System

Concept

Lunar Ascent

Space Tug, In-Space Communications Relay, Transport Service (LEO-Moon)

Early stage

Masten Space Systems

Moon Lander XL-1

Transport Service (LEO-Moon), Commercial Lunar Lander, Landing Pads

Acquired, Development

Moon Express

MX-1 SCOUT CLASS EXPLORER, MX-2 SCOUT CLASS EXPLORER, MX-9 FRONTIER CLASS EXPLORER

Transport Service (LEO-Moon)

Development, Dormant, ?

MOONPORT

Moon On-Orbit Nexus Providing Orbital Rendezvous and Transportation (MOONPORT)

Space Tug, On-Orbit Servicing, Transport Service (LEO-Moon)

MOONPORT

Concept

OHB

LSAS (Lunar Surface Access Service)

Transport Service (LEO-Moon), Commercial Lunar Lander

Early stage

ORBITBeyond

Transport Service (LEO-Moon), Commercial Lunar Lander

Early stage

PTS

ALINA

Transport Service (LEO-Moon), Commercial Lunar Lander

Development

Qosmosys

Zeus, ZeusX

Transport Service (LEO-Moon), Commercial Lander, Commercial Lunar Lander

Early stage

Quantum Space

Transport Service (LEO-Moon), In-Space Manufacturing, On-Orbit Servicing, In-Orbit Inspection, Beyond-LEO Remote Sensing, In-Space Logistics, In-Space Communications Relay

Development

Smallspark Space Systems

S4-SLV

Transport Service (LEO-Moon), Space Tug, Transport Service (LEO-GEO), Orbital Transportation

Development

Space Castle Solutions

Modular Transport System (MTS)

Space Tug, Transport Service (Earth-LEO), Transport Service (LEO-GEO), Transport Service (LEO-Moon)

Concept

SpaceIL

Beresheet

Transport Service (LEO-Moon), Commercial Lunar Lander

Development, Demonstrated

SpaceX

Starship, Starship HLS, Starship Human Landing System

Human Landing System, Transport Service (Earth-LEO), Transport Service (Re-Entry), Transport Service (LEO-Moon), Point-to-point

Development

SR Space

STRANNIK-1, STRANNIK-2

Space Tug, Transport Service (LEO-GEO), Transport Service (LEO-Moon)

Cancelled

The Exploration Company

Nyx

Development

Transorbital

Trailblazer

Commercial Lunar Lander, Transport Service (LEO-Moon)

Transorbital

Dormant

Tyvak

Transport Service (LEO-Moon), Commercial Lunar Lander

Concept

UARX

LOLA, LUCAS, OSSIE

Transport Service (LEO-Moon), Commercial Lunar Lander, Space Tug, In-Space Logistics

Early stage

ULA

ACES

Transport Service (LEO-Moon), Commercial Lunar Lander, Space Tug, In-Space Logistics

Concept

Aquarian Space

In-Space Communications Relay

Early stage

Argotec

Andromeda

In-Space Communications Relay

Development

ATLAS Space Operations

In-Space Communications Relay, Deep Space Communications

Development

Celestial

In-Space Communications Relay

Concept, Dormant

CommStar Space Communications

CommStar-1

In-Space Communications Relay

Early stage

CosmoX

In-Space Communications Relay

Concept

Fibertek

In-Space Communications Relay, Deep Space Communications

Development

Hedy-Anthiel

Myriad

In-Space Communications Relay

Dormant, Concept

Honeywell

In-Space Communications Relay

Concept

Hypergiant

In-Space Communications Relay

Concept, Dormant

Indicium

ShootCapsule

In-Space Communications Relay, In-Orbit Data Storage

Concept, Dormant

Kepler Communications

Optical Service, Ku-band Service, S-band Service

In-Space Communications Relay

Development

Liftport Group

Lunar Communications Platform (Oreades), PicoGravity Lab, Lunar Space Elevator

In-Space Communications Relay, Commercial Space Station, Space Elevator

Early stage

Lunar Ascent

Space Tug, In-Space Communications Relay, Transport Service (LEO-Moon)

Early stage

MPB Communications

In-Space Communications Relay, Deep Space Communications

Concept

Nokia

In-Space Communications Relay

Development

Plus Ultra Space Outposts

Harmony

In-Space Communications Relay, Deep Space Communications

Dormant

Quantum Space

Transport Service (LEO-Moon), In-Space Manufacturing, On-Orbit Servicing, In-Orbit Inspection, Beyond-LEO Remote Sensing, In-Space Logistics, In-Space Communications Relay

Development

Solstar Space

In-Space Communications Relay

Development

Space Initiatives

In-Space Communications Relay

Concept

SpaceX

Starlink, Starshield

In-Space Communications Relay, Deep Space Communications

Development

Spatiam Corporation

In-Space Communications Relay, Deep Space Communications

Early stage

SSTL

Lunar Pathfinder

In-Space Communications Relay

Development

Tethers Unlimited

Refabricator, SpiderFab, LEO Knight

In-Space Manufacturing, On-Orbit Servicing, In-Space Assembly, In-Space Communications Relay, Robotic Arm

Launched, Development

A-SpaX

Transport Service (Re-Entry)

Early stage

Agile Space Industries

Commercial Sample Return, Transport Service (Re-Entry)

Concept, Dormant

AMi Exploration

Asteroid Mining Spacecraft

Resources - Asteroid Mining, Space Mining, Transport Service (Re-Entry)

Development

BlackStar Orbital Technologies

SpaceDrone

Transport Service (Re-Entry), Space Tug, Reusable Satellite, Microgravity Flight Service (Reusable Satellite)

Early stage

Dawn Aerospace

Mk-II Aurora, Mk-III

Microgravity Flight Service (Suborbital), Active Debris Removal (ADR), Transport Service (Re-Entry)

Development

Downmass

Transport Service (Re-Entry), Microgravity Flight Service (LEO), Microgravity Flight Service (Reusable Satellite)

Development

ElevationSpace

ELS-R

Microgravity Flight Service (LEO), Microgravity Flight Service (Reusable Satellite), Transport Service (Re-Entry)

Development

Foton Spacecraft

Foton

Microgravity Flight Service (LEO), Transport Service (Re-Entry)

Retired

GTL

Hyperion

Transport Service (Re-Entry), Transport Service (LEO-Moon), Commercial Lander, Commercial Lunar Lander, Space Tug, Orbital Transportation

Early stage

HStar Space Transport

Transport Service (Earth-LEO), Transport Service (Re-Entry)

Early stage

In Orbit Aerospace

Transport Service (Re-Entry), Microgravity Flight Service (LEO), Microgravity Flight Service (Reusable Satellite)

Development

Independence-X

MERCAP

Transport Service (Re-Entry), Microgravity Flight Service (Reusable Satellite)

Early stage

Interspace Explore

ZengZhang

Transport Service (Re-Entry), Microgravity Flight Service (Reusable Satellite), Transport Service (Earth-LEO)

Development

Inversion

Ray, Arc

Transport Service (Re-Entry), In-Space Manufacturing, Microgravity Flight Service (LEO), Microgravity Flight Service (Reusable Satellite)

Development

JAXA

HSRC (HTV Small Re-entry Capsule), HTV, HTV-X

Transport Service (Re-Entry), Transport Service (Earth-LEO), Microgravity Flight Service (LEO)

Demonstrated

Klaus

Inflatable Atmospheric Decelerator (IAD), Space Return Service

Transport Service (Re-Entry), In-Space Manufacturing, Microgravity Flight Service (LEO), Microgravity Flight Service (Reusable Satellite)

Development

MKB Raduga

VBK-Raduga

Transport Service (Re-Entry)

Discontinued

NewSpace Systems

Glide2

Transport Service (Re-Entry), Hardware

Development

Orbital Bridge

Transport Service (Earth-LEO), Transport Service (Re-Entry)

Early stage

Outpost

Ferry

In-Space Manufacturing, Transport Service (Earth-LEO), Transport Service (Re-Entry)

Development

Plasmos

Space Truck

Space Tug, On-Orbit Servicing, In-Space Manufacturing, In-Space Assembly, Transport Service (Re-Entry), Orbital Transportation

Development

Pythom

Olympus, Pythom Spaceship

Commercial Lander, Commercial Lunar Lander, Transport Service (Re-Entry), Commercial Space Station

Early stage

Radian Space

Radian One

Transport Service (Earth-LEO), Microgravity Flight Service (LEO), Microgravity Flight Service (Reusable Satellite), Human Spaceflight, Transport Service (Re-Entry)

Development

RadioBro

LASER (Lunar Ascent Sample Earth Return)

Transport Service (Re-Entry), Commercial Sample Return

Idea, Dormant

Raven Dynamics

Transport Service (Re-Entry), Microgravity Flight Service (LEO)

Early stage

Raven Space Systems

In-Space Manufacturing, Transport Service (Re-Entry), Microgravity Flight Service (LEO)

Development

Reenter Space

Transport Service (Re-Entry), Microgravity Flight Service (Reusable Satellite), Microgravity Flight Service (LEO), In-Space Manufacturing

Development

RTSS

ARGO

Transport Service (Re-Entry)

Dormant, Early stage

Shackleton Energy

Oryx, Mini Space Brake (MSB)

Transport Service (Re-Entry), In-Space Manufacturing, Resources - Water, Resources - Asteroid Mining, Space Mining, ISRU (In Situ Resource Utilization)