韩媒综述Intuitive Machines月球通信与国防卫星订单扩张，但核心财务与订单事实已在两周前披露

Intuitive Machines is emerging as a core contractor in the U.S. lunar economy as Moon exploration shifts from government-led programs to commercial procurement. The company has broadened its business from landers into communications, satellite manufacturing and national security, lifting its backlog more than eightfold from the end of last year.
Intuitive Machines is a space company founded in 2013 by former engineers of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). It grew on the back of NASA's Commercial Lunar Payload Services (CLPS) program, which contracts lunar cargo delivery out to private firms. Its Nova-C lander became the first privately built spacecraft to make a soft landing on the Moon during the IM-1 mission in February 2024. IM-2 reached the lunar south polar region in March 2025, but the vehicle tipped over after touchdown and the mission ended early.
The company's business scope is widening quickly. In September 2024, NASA selected Intuitive Machines as a provider under its Near Space Network Services (NSNS) program, which handles communications and navigation between the Moon and Earth. The contract is worth up to $4.82 billion. The company also plans to launch four of its own Khon lunar data relay satellites at once on a dedicated rocket in 2028. That gives it a communications infrastructure business capable of generating recurring revenue separate from landing missions.
The shift is showing up in earnings. Second-quarter revenue came in at $206.2 million, more than four times the $50.3 million reported a year earlier. Gross profit swung to a $36 million surplus. New orders in the second quarter totaled about $900 million, and the backlog stood at $1.8 billion at the end of June, up 844.67% from $213.1 million at the end of last year. The company expects full-year revenue of $900 million to $1 billion and a swing to positive adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA).
The composition of the order book has also changed. The company won contracts for three geostationary satellites worth more than $600 million and secured volume for 18 satellites for the U.S. Department of Defense. Contracted spacecraft now exceed 80 units. The share of revenue from the national security segment jumped to about 30% from 3% in a single year. In August, it acquired a ground station operator, adding a network of ground antennas.
The key variable is the third lunar mission. The company has moved IM-3 into assembly and testing and is targeting a launch in the first quarter of 2027. Whether it resolves the landing stability problems exposed in earlier missions is expected to be the decisive factor in winning follow-on CLPS contracts and expanding into crewed exploration.