Firefly Aerospace vs Intuitive Machines: Landers, rovers & surface transport compared

November 2026 edition · assessment by Frontier Tech Intelligence

Firefly Aerospace ranks 13 on the Space 100 with a score of 83; Intuitive Machines ranks 15 with 82. Firefly Aerospace is ahead on deployment. Intuitive Machines is ahead on commercials. Level on production, progress, technology, positioning, firepower and leverage. Firefly Aerospace is based in Cedar Park, United States, Intuitive Machines in Houston, United States. Firefly Aerospace: Public, founded 2017. Intuitive Machines: Public, founded 2013. Firefly Aerospace is named in 437 signals and Intuitive Machines in 38.

Firefly Aerospace →

Cedar Park, Texas, United States · Space · Planetary economy / Landers, rovers & surface transport · Public · founded 2017 · fireflyspace.com

Firefly operates the Alpha launch vehicle and is planning recurring launches from Wallops and Esrange, including two contracted Alpha launches in 2028.

Space 100 · rank 13 · score 83

Scores, Space (of 10)

Deployment10
Production6
Commercials8
Progress10
Technology8
Positioning8
Firepower9
Leverage6

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

Positioning

Firefly Aerospace is a US launch and lunar company (Nasdaq:FLY) whose Blue Ghost Mission 1 was the first fully successful commercial lunar landing (March 2025), now executing five lunar missions in parallel plus the Alpha launch vehicle and Elytra spacecraft line, with FY26 guidance of $420-450M and a record $1.5B backlog. It posted the strongest space Q2 of the season (Q2-26 revenue of $117.7M, +659% YoY, its first >$100M quarter), made an $855M SciTec acquisition (national-security software) plus a Space-ng acquisition, and won NASA, Air Force, and Golden Dome-related work with an NVIDIA collaboration. Its revenue mix is shifting to recurring spacecraft milestones.

Latest signals

  • Firefly Aerospace completed a key design review for NASA’s four-drone Moon mission.Interesting Engineering
  • Mission Control Space Services will supply Rashid Rover 2’s lunar communications link.SpaceQ
  • SSC Space and Firefly Aerospace completed key infrastructure for Alpha launches at Esrange and advanced to final pad construction.SSC Space

437 signals name Firefly Aerospace.

Facts, with sources

  • [object Object]SpaceNews
  • 1418SpaceNews
  • Public company, NASDAQ FLY, IPO August 2025SpaceNews

1592 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

Firefly Aerospace or Intuitive Machines: which is ahead in space?

Firefly Aerospace ranks 13 on the Space 100 with a score of 83; Intuitive Machines ranks 15 with 82. Firefly Aerospace is ahead on deployment. Intuitive Machines is ahead on commercials. Level on production, progress, technology, positioning, firepower and leverage. Firefly Aerospace is based in Cedar Park, United States, Intuitive Machines in Houston, United States. Firefly Aerospace: Public, founded 2017. Intuitive Machines: Public, founded 2013. Firefly Aerospace is named in 437 signals and Intuitive Machines in 38.

How do Firefly Aerospace and Intuitive Machines compare?

Firefly Aerospace ranks 13 on the Space 100 with a score of 83; Intuitive Machines ranks 15 with 82. Firefly Aerospace is ahead on deployment. Intuitive Machines is ahead on commercials. Level on production, progress, technology, positioning, firepower and leverage. Firefly Aerospace is based in Cedar Park, United States, Intuitive Machines in Houston, United States. Firefly Aerospace: Public, founded 2017. Intuitive Machines: Public, founded 2013. Firefly Aerospace is named in 437 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.

Members see every signal and fact behind both companies, the live ranking, the questions the signals answer and the week explained. $99 a month, 7-day trial. What Frontier Tech Intelligence is →

Subscribe · $99 a month