HOUSTON, May 18, 2026 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Intuitive Machines, Inc. (Nasdaq: LUNR) (“Intuitive Machines”, together with its subsidiaries, the “Company”), a space technology, infrastructure, and services leader, is now the prime contractor for operations of the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter Camera (“LROC”), a key instrument aboard NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter ("LRO"), and the ShadowCam instrument, a specialized lunar imaging camera on board the Korea Pathfinder Lunar Orbiter that provides visibility in light obscured conditions such as dark and shadowed regions of the Moon.

Pictured: LROC-sourced high-resolution image of the Moon's Reiner Gamma region, which is one of the most distinctive and enigmatic features on the Moon. Reconnaissance images like these will help navigate Intuitive Machines’ IM-3 mission, a planned robotic lunar landing mission under NASA’s Commercial Lunar Payload Services (CLPS) initiative. IM-3 aims to be the first to land inside the Reiner Gamma swirl.

Under the $15.5 million cost-plus-fixed-fee three-year prime contract for LROC and the $4.5 million cost-plus-fixed-fee three-year prime contract for ShadowCam, Intuitive Machines is leading imaging operations, data storage and analysis, and mission support. The Company also is leading LROC’s Moon surface mapping operations, and advance ShadowCam imaging of permanently shadowed regions.   

Intuitive Machines plans to interpret and integrate the publicly available LROC Planetary Data System archive for its lunar data relay satellite constellation to provide orbital and surface navigation services across government and commercial exploration.

“Exploration is empowered by data-driven insights,” said Intuitive Machines CEO Steve Altemus. “The experienced LROC team has mapped and analyzed the lunar surface in unprecedented detail. Now working alongside our data services group, the LROC team is advancing secure, real-time navigation and precision surface operations, laying the foundation for scalable lunar data services.”

Since LRO’s launch in 2009, LROC has captured more than 2.6 million Narrow Angle Camera (NAC) and more than 640,000 Wide Angle Camera (WAC) high-resolution images of the lunar surface as part of the LRO mission. The mission delivers insights that help shape lunar policy, guide infrastructure planning and development, and establish a framework for deep space exploration.

The LROC images are used to generate global terrain models, high-resolution local terrain models, derive surface feature and composition maps, and provide landing site analysis data supporting NASA’s Artemis campaign and commercial lunar missions. This data represents a significant portion of the more than 1.8 petabytes stored on NASA PDS and serves as a digital backbone for modern lunar mission planning and surface operations.

Intuitive Machines is establishing foundational infrastructure required for secure, sustained lunar operations by combining the capabilities of its planned lunar data relay satellite constellation with the deep space navigation expertise of its wholly owned KinetX subsidiary and the extensive lunar imagery and analyses generated by the LROC team.

About Intuitive Machines   

Intuitive Machines is a leading space infrastructure company that builds spacecraft, connects networks, and operates infrastructure-as-a-service for commercial, civil, and national security customers.    

With a proven track record across the space domain, the Company, through organic growth and portfolio expansion, has built over 300 spacecraft, delivered over 260 kilograms of payload to the lunar surface, and provided precision navigation expertise that has guided spacecraft across our solar system.  

These capabilities form an integrated Built-Connect-Operate infrastructure service company, enabling customers to achieve mission and campaign outcomes through a single prime solution. Intuitive Machines’ technology has been demonstrated across the space domain and is engineered to support the next century of opportunity in space.   

Contacts

For investor inquiries:
investors@intuitivemachines.com

For media inquiries:
press@intuitivemachines.com

Forward-Looking Statements  

This press release includes “forward-looking statements” within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, as amended. These statements that do not relate to matters of historical fact should be considered forward looking. These forward-looking statements generally are identified by the words such as “anticipate,” “believe,” “continue,” “could,” “estimate,” “expect,” “intend,” “may,” “might,” “plan,” “possible,” “potential,” “predict,” “project,” “should,” “strive,” “would,” “strategy,” “outlook,” the negative of these words or other similar expressions, but the absence of these words does not mean that a statement is not forward-looking. These forward-looking statements include but are not limited to statements regarding: our expectations and plans relating to our LROC and ShadowCam contract, including information regarding our expectations on revenue generation and contract performance. These forward-looking statements reflect the Company’s predictions, projections, or expectations based upon currently available information and data. Our actual results, performance or achievements may differ materially from those expressed or implied by the forward-looking statements, and you are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward looking statements. The following important factors and uncertainties, among others, could cause actual outcomes or results to differ materially from those indicated by the forward-looking statements in this press release: our factors detailed under the section titled Part I, Item 1A. Risk Factors of our Annual Report on Form 10-K filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”), the section titled Part I, Item 2, Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations and the section titled Part II. Item 1A. “Risk Factors” in our most recently filed Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q, and in our subsequent filings with the SEC, which are accessible on the SEC's website at www.sec.gov.  

A photo accompanying this announcement is available at https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/c5acfd8a-7587-400c-8f76-c2a9f2f9da36

Intuitive Machines Announces Two Prime Lunar Reconnaissance Contracts

Pictured: LROC-sourced high-resolution image of the Moon's Reiner Gamma region, which is one of the most distinctive and enigmatic features on the Moon. Reconnaissance images like these will help navigate Intuitive Machines’ IM-3 mission, a planned robotic lunar landing mission under NASA’s Commercial Lunar Payload Services (CLPS) initiative. IM-3 aims to be the first to land inside the Reiner Gamma swirl.

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