Intuitive Machines

Intuitive Machines is a Houston-based public aerospace company founded in 2013 by Stephen Altemus, Kam Ghaffarian, and Tim Crain to enable commercial and government exploration of the Moon. The company designs and operates the Nova-C lunar lander, delivering NASA and commercial payloads to the lunar surface under the Commercial Lunar Payload Services (CLPS) initiative, and is developing a larger Nova-D lander for future missions. Beyond surface delivery, Intuitive Machines provides lunar data relay communications, navigation services, and space infrastructure-as-a-service, and in 2024 was awarded a $4.82 billion NASA Near Space Network contract to build and operate a lunar communications constellation.