MOON: Investing for the Risk Tolerant Physician?

Posted on February 26, 2024 by Dr. David Edward Marcinko MBA

PRIVATIZING OUTER SPACE

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Did you know that NASA remains laser-focused on getting humans back on the moon with its Artemis program. But with a budget one-tenth the size it was at the height of the Apollo program, the space agency is turning to the private sector to make it to the Moon, again.

IM’s Odysseus mission is part of the NASA Commercial Lunar Payload Services (CLPS), an initiative that partners the agency with private companies, allowing NASA to send data-collecting instruments to the moon aboard private spacecraft while spending significantly less money than if it had to send its own.

  • NASA paid $118 million to Intuitive Machines for Odysseus to take six high-tech research machines to the moon.
  • According to Thomas Zurbuchen, who led the creation of the CLPS program, this type of mission could cost half a billion to a billion dollars if led by NASA.

In December, India landed a spacecraft on the moon’s south pole for $75 million—less than the reported budget of Madame Web. But the trend of cheaper missions also means a higher likelihood of failure. Last month, the Peregrine lander from Astrobotic Technology—another company working with NASA via the CLPS initiative—failed to reach the moon after a fuel leak.

The company’s stock struggled after going public a year ago, but excitement around Odysseus made that a thing of the past: It has soared 300% since last month.

UPDATE: Shares of Intuitive Machines slumped 38% in post-market trading on Friday after the company said its moon lander Odysseus had “tipped over” sideways when the spacecraft descended on the lunar surface a day earlier.

Odysseus is “aliv

CITE: https://www.r2library.com/Resource

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