Intuitive Machines Wins JPL Spacecraft Award for NASA Cloud-Observation Mission

Intuitive Machines has been selected by NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory to provide the spacecraft platform and system-level integration for FALCON-RADAR, an Earth observation mission studying clouds and convection from space. The award marks the company's third mission supporting NASA's Earth science objectives in the last six months, extending its work beyond lunar landers into Earth-observation spacecraft.

FALCON-RADAR is part of the Fleet for the Atmospheric Linking Commercial Observations with NASA. The mission consists of a single polar-orbiting, sun-synchronous satellite carrying a W-Band Cloud Profiling Doppler Radar instrument designed to observe shallow light precipitation and small-scale cloud dynamics. The mission will fly on the IM 300 spacecraft bus and is targeted for launch no earlier than 2029.

As part of the FALCON fleet, FALCON-RADAR will supply two-dimensional cloud context and detect convection. In concert with water vapor and aerosol measurements from other missions, its data will enable deeper atmospheric science analysis and provide the Earth science community further insight into weather patterns, helping to profile processes responsible for rain and snow near Earth's surface. Intuitive Machines noted that the millimeter-wavelength radar technology may support advances toward Moon and Mars applications.

The FALCON-RADAR spacecraft is being developed in collaboration with EAGLE-VSWIR, another NASA mission recently awarded to Intuitive Machines. Together, the two missions will provide complementary science data. The company is also providing an IM 500 spacecraft bus, system-level integration, and mission solutions for NASA's EDGE, the Earth Dynamics Geodetic Explorer mission, managed by NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center and led by Principal Investigator Dr. Helen Amanda Fricker of the Scripps Institution of Oceanography at the University of California San Diego.

"Our reliable and modular platforms align with NASA's goal of delivering more science on faster timelines," said Steve Altemus, Chief Executive Officer of Intuitive Machines. "We combine spacecraft manufacturing at scale with deep mission systems and integration expertise, and Earth science is a natural fit. This mission draws on the same capabilities we already deliver across our commercial, civil, and national security work."

The company said the three awards demonstrate the diversification of its portfolio, underscoring platform extensibility and mission expertise. Intuitive Machines said its proven commercial spacecraft platforms and integration capabilities enable efficient, affordable execution of science missions. The IM 300 series platform currently supports multiple programs spanning both national security and civil space applications.

FALCON-RADAR is targeted for launch no earlier than 2029, with the spacecraft developed alongside the EAGLE-VSWIR mission to deliver complementary science data.