Intuitive Machines is “the leading beneficiary of NASA’s lunar commercialization efforts,” says B. Riley Securities analyst Mike Crawford.

NASA awarded Intuitive Machines a long-term contract potentially worth $4.82 billion to develop, launch, and operate a five-satellite communications and navigation network around the moon.

To establish a permanent base on the Moon and explore its surface, NASA needs a 21st century communications infrastructure. It chose a small Houston, Texas-based commercial space company to do the job.