Intuitive Machines jumped 6% Monday after an undisclosed customer authorized a $600M-plus multi-satellite communications program using its IM 1300 satellite platform. LUNR now carries a record $1.8B backlog with B. Riley and Cantor Fitzgerald maintaining bullish ratings despite trimming price targets.
Flat peers RKLB and SPCX confirm that the $600M award is a single-stock catalyst, not a broader space sector re-rating. It sounds nuts, but SoFi1 is giving new Active Invest users up to $3,000 in stock for a limited time, and all it takes is a $50 deposit to get started.2 See for yourself (Sponsor) Shares of Intuitive Machines (NASDAQ:LUNR) are up 6% to $20.22 in early Monday trading after the company announced an authorization to proceed (ATP) on a multi-satellite communications program valued at more than $600 million. The move extends Friday's 8% jump to $19.01.
Intuitive Machines stock was already up 17% year to date (YTD) at Friday's close. The space-stock peers are quiet, with SpaceX (NASDAQ:SPCX) and Rocket Lab (NASDAQ:RKLB) both flat, framing today's move as a single-name catalyst rather than a sector re-rating. The catalyst is a press release dated August 17, 2026, in which Intuitive Machines disclosed that an undisclosed customer issued an authorization to proceed on a multi-satellite communications infrastructure program with an anticipated value of more than $600 million.
The company will use its IM 1300 satellite platform to design, build, integrate, and support the spacecraft. Chris Johnson, President of Intuitive Machines Space Systems, stated the program "reflects the trust customers place in partners who can execute complex space missions with precision, reliability, and schedule discipline." CEO Steve Altemus described it as "an important milestone" and stated Intuitive Machines is "executing programs across commercial, civil, and national security space markets." SoFi Active Invest is offering a limited-time promotion. Open an account, fund it with $50 or more, and you could receive up to $3,000 in complimentary stock for Active Invest accounts.
See for yourself by clicking here now. On the Q2 2026 call, the company had already flagged three geostationary communications satellites worth more than $600 million over the next 30 months. Today's release doesn't identify the customer or confirm whether this ATP covers that same award or adds new work, so investors can watch for firm-up details before treating it as incremental backlog for LUNR.
The rest of the group is idle. SpaceX (NASDAQ:SPCX) stock is unchanged at $140 and Rocket Lab (NASDAQ:RKLB) stock is unchanged at $80.60. Other space names including Virgin Galactic (NYSE:SPCE), AST SpaceMobile (NASDAQ:ASTS), and Planet Labs (NYSE:PL) are also trading quietly, and the Procure Space ETF (NASDAQ:UFO) is little changed, carrying meaningful concentration risk given its narrow basket of space names.
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