Shares of Intuitive Machines Inc. (NASDAQ:LUNR) rose 4.5% in premarket trading Friday after the Houston-based space technology firm announced it had secured an $8.2 million contract extension from the U.S. Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL) to advance the development of next-generation nuclear power systems for space applications.
The new award will enable Intuitive Machines to move its spacecraft and lunar infrastructure power technology from the design phase to flight hardware readiness. It builds upon a previous $9.5 million AFRL program, which concluded with a successful Preliminary Design Review (PDR) in September.
The company’s efforts center on Stirling-based power conversion systems, designed to convert heat from radioisotope sources into electrical power — a potential game-changer for deep-space and lunar missions where traditional solar power is unreliable. These compact nuclear systems could enable continuous energy generation during the two-week lunar night, when temperatures plunge below –200°F, rendering solar-powered systems inoperable.
“This award moves us from design to flight hardware, which is a critical step toward proving that compact nuclear power systems can survive and perform in space,” said Tim Crain, co-founder and Chief Growth Officer of Intuitive Machines.
To demonstrate its progress, the company plans to deploy the Stirling Technology spAce Research experimenT (START) aboard the International Space Station National Laboratory, aiming to elevate the system’s readiness from prototype to space-qualified technology — a key milestone toward commercial, civil, and national security adoption.
In parallel, Intuitive Machines is conducting research into high-power fission-based nuclear systems through a Department of Energy contract funded by NASA’s Fission Surface Power project. The company said this work positions it to broaden its capabilities from lunar transport services to sustained commercial infrastructure operations on the Moon.