The old saying goes that “the sky is the limit.” But when it comes to Intuitive Machines (IM), perhaps not!
Walking into IM’s bustling complex within the Houston Aerospace Support Center’s 53,000-square-foot facility located on Houston Spaceport (EFD) is like stepping into the future. “Busy” is an extreme understatement as seasoned engineers and technicians are at work simultaneously on developing a lunar lander to go to the moon, long-range drone technology, and much more.
And that’s just the way they like it.
President and CEO Steve Altemus acknowledges that he and IM staff, now 70-strong, derive great satisfaction and enjoyment from their often-ground-breaking work. “I’m really still a child at heart,” Altemus said. “It is so much fun to be doing what we are doing,” he said. “Airborne systems and drones, developing lunar landers, building propulsion systems, making parts in using the latest manufacturing techniques with additive manufacturing…
The energy of the company is evident to anyone who steps inside the company’s, er, space. Within each of its three major service lines – Airborne Systems, Space Systems, and Additive Manufacturing - staff is putting in work with intent to fulfill an ambitious vision and agenda.
“It's an engineer’s dream – and Houston Airports has been a great partner to us in us living out that dream,” Altemus said.
IM is the first company based at the Houston Spaceport and signed a 6-year lease in late February. The Houston Spaceport is the nation’s 10th licensed spaceport, created to offer companies like IM a place and resources to develop the technology of the future. So far, so good! In November, IM was one of nine U.S. companies selected by NASA to be part of a $2.6 billion program that aims to send commercial missions to the moon over the next decade.
Altemus and IM have imposed their own aggressive timetable to provide access from the surface of the earth to the surface of the moon. “We have a target date of the second half of 2021,” he said. “NASA has science instruments and missions they want to fly to the moon,” he said. “Our responsibility will be to put those science payloads on the surface of the moon.”
“We are developing a propulsion system, tanks, writing software…putting together avionics and flight computers. And we’re going to test that right here at the Houston Spaceport.”
NASA selected IM’s 3,300-lb. Nova-C class moon lander, fully developed at the Spaceport, to be eligible to provide services under the program. The lander has the ability to deliver payloads to the surface of the moon.
Altemus is also excited about the autonomous drones IM is developing at a “rate” of six drones every three months. Four are in stock, and the drones are priced for commercial sale to the tune of about $300,000 each. The drones can fly 800 miles (on one tank of gas!) and can be used for an increasingly large variety of purposes, including pipeline inspections, powerline inspections, surveying of various forms, and wildlife management (counting and detecting herds of animals).
Federal Aviation Administration regulations only allow drones to fly within a visual line of sight, but IM has developed a technology that allows their drones to safely and accurately fly beyond the line of sight. They have applied for a patent. The drones are amazingly complex but have a dry weight of only 15 lbs. Fuel and payload increases an individual drone’s weight to 55 lbs.
The drones operate autonomously, with a single pilot watching over the flight. But largely, the drone flies itself and its artificial intelligence allows it to automatically compensate for wind, altitude, and camera motion.
Houston was among the first words ever spoken on the moon by NASA astronaut Neil Armstrong after he and fellow astronaut Buzz Aldrin landed the lunar module Eagle in 1969. “So, I think it’s absolutely appropriate that at Houston Spaceport we are building the first commercial lunar lander to go back to the moon,” Altemus said.
He had known Arturo Machuca (General Manager, EFD and Houston Spaceport) and Houston Airports Aviation Director Mario Diaz since he was a Deputy Director at Johnson Space Center, prior to forming IM 5-1/2 years ago. When he started IM along with two other principals, he continued his association with HAS and was a very vocal supporter as the Houston Spaceport vision was cast and came into clearer view. He signed on as the first Spaceport tenant and the relationship continues to flourish.
“Houston Airports has been a great friend and supporter of Intuitive Machines. Houston Spaceport is here for the community, and it’s open for operations!” he said.
For IM, the sky is clearly no longer the limit!