NASA Assigns Intuitive Machines Its Third Earth Science Mission in Six Months
Key Facts
NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory selected Intuitive Machines to provide the spacecraft platform and system-level integration for the FALCON-RADAR Earth-observation mission, according to a company statement issued on November 3. The company said this is the third mission awarded to it in support of NASA’s Earth science goals over the past six months. The selection comes as its role in scientific observation missions expands, alongside its work on other agency missions. FALCON-RADAR will study clouds and convection from space, two subjects linked to understanding weather and precipitation processes. Chief Executive Steve Altemus said the company’s platforms align with NASA’s goal of “delivering more science on faster timelines.”
The mission aims to measure light, shallow precipitation and small-scale cloud dynamics, according to the company’s description. Its data will provide two-dimensional context for clouds and reveal convection, supporting analysis of weather processes linked to rain and snow near Earth’s surface. The spacecraft consists of a single satellite in a sun-synchronous polar orbit, carrying a W-band Doppler radar to characterize clouds. The mission design thus combines cloud observation with precipitation measurement at smaller scales. The company says the data will complement those from the EAGLE-VSWIR mission, which is being developed in collaboration with FALCON-RADAR.
FALCON-RADAR is scheduled to fly on the IM 300 spacecraft bus, with launch targeted for no earlier than 2029, according to Intuitive Machines’ statement. The launch schedule places the mission in a development phase years ahead of its scientific data collection. EAGLE-VSWIR, whose development NASA recently awarded to the company, is proceeding alongside the new project under a collaboration intended to provide complementary scientific data. The company also provides the IM 500 platform, system-level integration and mission solutions for NASA’s EDGE program, managed by Goddard Space Flight Center. FALCON-RADAR, EAGLE-VSWIR and EDGE are the three projects the company said it has supported in furtherance of NASA’s Earth science goals over the past six months.
The new mission comes as Intuitive Machines recorded $1.34 billion in new contract awards in the second quarter of 2026, most of them tied to a multi-satellite program supporting three commercial satellites. This included a $45 million authorization to proceed, while the backlog reflects an estimated total program value exceeding $600 million, according to the company’s results. Revenue in the same quarter was $206 million, compared with $41.4 million in the corresponding period of 2025. But the loss before income taxes widened to $62.833 million, from $38.206 million in the second quarter of the previous year. The figures place the new contracts in the context of growth in revenue and commitments, alongside continued pre-tax losses.
A market snapshot posted on Investing.com showed LUNR shares up 7.20% at the time it was viewed. This is a real-time reading displayed on the page; the available evidence did not provide reliable verification of the stock’s percentage change or closing price in the November 3 session. Nor was reliable verification available for moves in Rocket Lab and SpaceX or their closing prices on November 2. The available figures therefore do not establish a complete daily move or a verified comparison among space-company stocks. The confirmed event in this report remains NASA’s award of the new Earth science mission to Intuitive Machines.
Intuitive Machines is scheduled to hold its third-quarter results call on November 12, 2026, at 8:30 a.m. Eastern time, according to its investor relations page. The call follows the FALCON-RADAR contract announcement, and the company will present its quarterly results. The date is the next announced milestone for investors following the mission news. In the second quarter, the company recorded revenue of $206 million and a pre-tax loss of $62.833 million. The mission announcement did not specify another date for execution updates or changes to the targeted launch schedule of 2029 or later.