Intuitive Machines shares extend losses premarket amid ongoing Moon lander issues

Investing.com -- Shares in Intuitive Machines (NASDAQ:LUNR) tumbled in premarket U.S. trading on Tuesday, pointing to a second-consecutive day of steep losses following an announcement over the weekend that its Odysseus Moon lander likely tipped over and is lying on its side on the lunar surface.

The Houston, Texas-based firm, which became the first private company to land a spacecraft on the Moon, said in an update on Monday that "flight controllers intend to collect data until the lander's solar panels are no longer exposed to light." Based on the position of both the Earth and Moon, IM added that they expect to stay in communication with Odysseus "until Tuesday morning."

IM Chief Executive Steve Altemus has previously said that it is unclear what happened to Odysseus during its landing. According to IM, the vessel remains in good condition, with all but one of its six payloads facing upwards and receiving communications. These payloads are still expected to be able to carry out their scientific objectives.

IM has said the payload resting on its side holds a static art project from the artist Jeff Koons.

In Monday trading, shares in IM, which went public via a special-purpose acquisition merger last February, shed more than a third of their value. The decline erased a jump in the stock registered in a frenzied day of trading on Friday.