Astrobotic vs Intuitive Machines: Landers, rovers & surface transport compared

November 2026 edition · assessment by Frontier Tech Intelligence

Intuitive Machines ranks 15 on the Space 100 with a score of 82; Astrobotic ranks 73 with 68. Intuitive Machines is ahead on deployment, production, commercials, progress, technology, positioning and firepower. Level on leverage. Astrobotic is based in Pittsburgh, United States, Intuitive Machines in Houston, United States. Astrobotic: Private, founded 2007. Intuitive Machines: Public, founded 2013. Astrobotic is named in 67 signals and Intuitive Machines in 38.

Astrobotic →

Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States · Space · Planetary economy / Landers, rovers & surface transport · Private · founded 2007 · www.astrobotic.com

Astrobotic builds and operates lunar landers, including Peregrine and Griffin-1, to deliver NASA and commercial payloads to the Moon.

Space 100 · rank 73 · score 68

Scores, Space (of 10)

Deployment8
Production4
Commercials7
Progress9
Technology6
Positioning6
Firepower8
Leverage6

Darker bar: ahead of the other company on that measure.

Positioning

Astrobotic is a US lunar-logistics company (now a Voyager subsidiary after a July 2026 acquisition of up to $300M) with >$600M in cumulative NASA and DoD contracts, whose Peregrine-1 became America's first commercial lunar lander in space in January 2024 (a propellant anomaly prevented landing). It continues the Griffin lander plus lunar power infrastructure (LunaGrid) and rovers, and won two new CLPS task orders in June 2026 (Peregrine-2 and Peregrine-3 to the Gruithuisen Domes by end-2028), NASA's confidence restatement after the Peregrine-1 failure. Its IP is being consolidated into Voyager's Moon Base strategic initiative.

Latest signals

  • HPE plans to send its Spaceborne Computer 4 to the Moon by year-end 2026.ZDNet Korea
  • Griffin-1 lunar lander is ready for launch to the MoonHeise
  • Astrobotic reported divided member views on the FCC’s ban on new foreign-produced mobile robots.The Robot Report

67 signals name Astrobotic.

Facts, with sources

  • Moon Base task-order missions scheduled to launch in 2028 and deliver NASA payloads to Gruithuisen DomesAstrobotic
  • Moon Base task-order missions scheduled to launch in 2028 to the Gruithuisen DomesAstrobotic
  • Moon Base task-order missions scheduled for 2028 to deliver three NASA-sponsored payloads on PeregrineAstrobotic

194 facts on file.

Intuitive Machines →

Houston, Texas, United States · Space · Planetary economy / Landers, rovers & surface transport · Public · founded 2013 · www.intuitivemachines.com

Intuitive Machines builds and operates lunar landers that deliver NASA and commercial payloads to the Moon's surface.

Space 100 · rank 15 · score 82

Scores, Space (of 10)

Deployment9
Production6
Commercials10
Progress10
Technology8
Positioning8
Firepower9
Leverage6

Darker bar: ahead of the other company on that measure.

Positioning

Intuitive Machines is a US lunar-services company (Nasdaq) whose IM-1 was the first commercial lunar landing (February 2024), with IM-3 through IM-6 in the pipeline, posting record Q2-26 revenue of $206.2M (>4x YoY) and FY26 guidance of $900M-1B (adjusted-EBITDA positive but still GAAP loss-making). Its backlog jumped to $1.8B (8.5x in six months) largely through four acquisitions, and it received an ATP on a $600M+ multi-satellite communications program, though much of its headline growth is acquired (the Lanteris deal) rather than organic. It is acquiring Maxar (pending), which would transform it from lunar services into a bus manufacturer and orbital-data-center player.

Latest signals

  • SiriusXM placed its SXM-11 satellite into service.Via Satellite
  • Intuitive Machines wins a $600 million contract for three geostationary communications satellites.SpaceNews
  • Space Forge partnered with Intuitive Machines to develop an orbital semiconductor reactor and return vehicle.EE Times

38 signals name Intuitive Machines.

Facts, with sources

  • NASA CLPS award IM-5, projected to launch in 2030SpaceNews
  • NASA selected Intuitive Machines for a mission to the lunar south polar regionSpaceNews
  • NASA-selected mission to the lunar south polar regionSpaceNews

195 facts on file.

More comparisons

Questions this page answers

Astrobotic or Intuitive Machines: which is ahead in space?

Intuitive Machines ranks 15 on the Space 100 with a score of 82; Astrobotic ranks 73 with 68. Intuitive Machines is ahead on deployment, production, commercials, progress, technology, positioning and firepower. Level on leverage. Astrobotic is based in Pittsburgh, United States, Intuitive Machines in Houston, United States. Astrobotic: Private, founded 2007. Intuitive Machines: Public, founded 2013. Astrobotic is named in 67 signals and Intuitive Machines in 38.

How do Astrobotic and Intuitive Machines compare?

Intuitive Machines ranks 15 on the Space 100 with a score of 82; Astrobotic ranks 73 with 68. Intuitive Machines is ahead on deployment, production, commercials, progress, technology, positioning and firepower. Level on leverage. Astrobotic is based in Pittsburgh, United States, Intuitive Machines in Houston, United States. Astrobotic: Private, founded 2007. Intuitive Machines: Public, founded 2013. Astrobotic is named in 67 signals and Intuitive Machines in 38. Both company files carry the scores on eight measures, the facts with sources and the latest signals.

Every comparison here comes from the same files members use every day.

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