[Update 2-14-23 – The deal has been completed]
Intuitive Machines (‘IM’), a Houston space infrastructure company, has agreed to be taken public by Inflection Point Acquisition Corp, a Manhattan-based SPAC.
The company is located near NASA and has recently been awarded a number of contracts with NASA’s Artemis program, which aims to return astronauts to the Moon by 2024.
IM is involved in 4 main segments
- Lunar landing vehicles
- Lunar data services
- Orbital services (e.g. satellite servicing, debris removal)
- Space infrastructure (power plants, human habitation systems)
IM was founded in 2013 by CEO Stephen Altemus, Kam Ghaffarian and Tim Crain.
- Mr. Altemus is the former Deputy Director of NASA’s Johnson Space Center.
- Mr. Ghaffarian is the Chairman of IM and has co-founded a number of space companies, including NASA contractor Stinger Ghaffarian Technologies, which was sold to KBR for $355 million in 2018.
- Dr. Crain is IM’s Chief Technology Officer and worked at NASA for 12 years.
- CFO Erik Sallee joined in April 2021 and was formerly the Corporate Controller at Blue Origin.
The company expects to have $102 million of revenue this year and has $153 million in backlog for 2023. The big jump is in 2024 when revenues are projected to be $759 million and the business will make a small EBITDA profit.
The transaction values the business at $815 million enterprise value (2.8 x 2023 revenue) and will leave the business with $338 million cash on hand to fund growth.
The deal is expected to be completed in the first quarter of 2023.
Just last week, Nauticus Robotics, another Houston company with strong NASA connections, was taken public by a SPAC.
Intuitive Machines – Investor Presentation