Why Intuitive Machines Stock Popped, Then Dropped Today

Key Points

• Intuitive Machines got famous for landing a spacecraft on the moon. Now it wants to land spacecraft on Earth, too.

• The company has signed up a second partner on its Earth Reentry Program: space semiconductor manufacturer Space Forge.

• Intuitive Machines is more than a year away from commercializing its ERP spacecraft.

• 10 stocks we like better than Intuitive Machines ›

Intuitive Machines (NASDAQ: LUNR) stock rocketed up nearly 10% in early trading on the Nasdaq Friday, before giving up essentially all its gains. As of 11:05 a.m. ET, the lunar exploration company's stock is up just 0.5%.

LUNR's non-lunar news

What was the catalyst for the stock's rapid rise -- and why didn't it last?

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In a press release last night, Intuitive Machines announced it is adding Space Forge, "a recognized leader in space semiconductor manufacturing" (although I've personally never heard of it), as a partner in its Earth Reentry Program (ERP) designed to facilitate in-orbit manufacturing.

Intuitive Machines aims to solve one of the most important, and also the most obvious, problem in space manufacturing: Once you manufacture something in space (semiconductors, for example), how do you get them back down to Earth where consumers can buy them and use them? Under the ERP, Intuitive Machines is designing a reusable "Zephyr" reentry vehicle that can be used to shuttle payloads of made-in-space products down to Earth, then launched back up to orbit for its next load.

In addition to Space Forge, Intuitive Machines has signed up one other partner for ERP, biomanufacturing company Rhodium Scientific. Both Space Forge and Rhodium are privately owned companies.

Image source: Intuitive Machines.

Does the ERP news make Intuitive Machines stock a buy?

All this sounds very forward-thinking -- but it shouldn't immediately impact Intuitive Machines' stock or its quest for profitability.

Intuitive describes ERP as in "Phase One" development, during which it designs and builds a "mockup" reentry vehicle. This will take 12 months, so actually building a spacecraft -- much less commercializing it -- must necessarily be more than a year away.

I suspect this is the reason investors ultimately decided there's no pressing need to rush out and buy Intuitive Machines stock today.

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Rich Smith has positions in Intuitive Machines. The Motley Fool has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.