Intuitive Machines stock spikes 35% as company's first moon mission starts

• Shares of Intuitive Machines spiked on Thursday, as the space company began its first mission to the moon's surface.
• A SpaceX rocket launched Intuitive Machines' IM-1 mission successfully.
• The company went public via a SPAC merger last year and, despite nearly doubling so far this year, trades at about half the stock's debut price.

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A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket carrying the Nova-C lander for the IM-1 mission launches from pad 39A at the Kennedy Space Center at 1:05 a.m. EDT on February 15, 2024 in Cape Canaveral, Florida.

Paul Hennessy | Anadolu | Getty Images

Shares of Intuitive Machines spiked in trading on Thursday, as the space company began its first mission to the moon's surface earlier in the morning.

A SpaceX rocket launched Intuitive's IM-1 mission successfully. The cargo lunar lander, loaded with research, is headed for the moon and Intuitive expects to make a landing attempt next week.

Intuitive's stock 34.5% in trading to close at $6.70 a share. The company went public via a SPAC merger last year and, despite nearly doubling so far this year, trades at about half the stock's debut price.

Before the launch, Intuitive Machines CEO Steve Altemus told CNBC that shareholders should be reassured that "we built resiliency into our business so that we're not a one-off kind of company that built a lunar lander and is going to throw it to the moon."

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"You could make money a whole lot of ways – but this isn't just about making money. It's about achieving something while running a business and innovating," he said.