Why Intuitive Machines Stock Is Plummeting Today

The stock of Intuitive Machines (NASDAQ: LUNR) is seeing intense sell-offs in Friday's trading. The lunar-lander company's share price was down 24.1% as of 1:15 p.m. ET today and had been down as much as 37.4% earlier in the day's trading.

Intuitive Machines' valuation is under intense pressure due to the status of the company's latest lunar lander. The Athena was confirmed to have made it to the moon yesterday, but its mission did not go as planned.

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Intuitive Machines stock is cratering due to lunar landing issues

The company released a statement today announcing that its Athena lunar lander had touched down 250 meters (about 270 yards) from its intended landing point. It landed on its side within a crater, and Intuitive Machines said that its orientation and location mean that onboard solar panels will not be able to recharge the craft's batteries.

What's next for Intuitive Machines?

The company said that it was able to accelerate and operate several of Athena's mission payloads, including NASA's PRIME-1 instruments for extracting and analyzing lunar soil. Unfortunately, the landing situation may mean that other key commercial payloads included in the mission were not able to work before the batteries were depleted.

While Intuitive Machines says that insights and achievements from the mission will help open the door for future exploration of that region of the moon, Athena's landing and subsequent loss of operations represent a significant setback for the company.

Putting landers on the moon is no easy task, and it's reasonable to expect that there will be some significant bumps in the road with space-based tech initiatives. The mission's challenges could continue to have a major impact on sentiment surrounding the stock in the near term.

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Keith Noonan has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.