How LUNR (Intuitive Machines) Makes Money in 2026: A Deep-Dive With Income Statement

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Understanding how a space exploration and lunar services company like Intuitive Machines makes money is essential for investors and anyone interested in the business of aerospace. In this post, we break down Intuitive Machines's quarterly income statement (Q3 2025) using a Sankey chart to visualize the financial flows — what comes in, where it goes, and what's left as profit.

Quick Intuitive Machines Overview

Intuitive Machines operates as a space infrastructure and lunar services provider, specializing in lunar landers, rovers, data relays, and mission services for NASA and commercial clients. Revenue comes primarily from government contracts for lunar missions and related services. As a pure-play lunar exploration company, it focuses on enabling sustainable presence on the Moon through its Nova-C lander and other technologies.

Revenue Breakdown

• Total Revenue (Q3 2025): $52.4M (-10.3% YoY)
  • No detailed segment breakdown available; revenue driven by lunar mission contracts and services.
  • Growth is powered by ongoing NASA contracts, though Q3 faced a YoY decline possibly due to lumpy mission timing.

Gross Profit and Margins

• Gross Profit: $11.4M (21.7% gross margin)
  • Cost of Revenue: $41.0M (-24.5% YoY)
  • Intuitive Machines maintains moderate margins due to high fixed costs in space manufacturing offset by scalable mission services.
• Most costs come from manufacturing and launch-related expenses for lunar landers and payloads.

Operating Income and Expenses

• Operating Income: Not specified (inferred negative given operating expenses exceeding gross profit)
• Operating Expenses: $26.8M (+50.3% YoY)
  • R&D: Not specified — Likely embedded in operating expenses for spacecraft development.
  • SG&A: $20.3M (+64.6% YoY, 38.7% of revenue) — Driven by expansion of sales team, administrative scaling for new contracts, and public company costs.
  • Intuitive Machines continues to prioritize innovation while expanding operations to secure more lunar missions.

Net Income

• Pre-Tax Income: Not specified
• Income Tax: Not specified (0% effective tax rate implied)
• Net Income: $7.0M (-87.4% YoY, 13.3% net margin)
• Intuitive Machines converts a moderate portion of sales into profit due to non-operating income offsetting high operating expenses.

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What Drives Intuitive Machines's Money Machine?

• NASA Lunar Contracts: 100% of revenue from space mission services, including landers and data services.
• Mission Success Rate: Key metric with recent missions demonstrating reliability, supporting repeat contracts.
• R&D and Fleet Expansion: Investments in next-gen landers and rovers to capture more CLPS (Commercial Lunar Payload Services) awards.
• Future growth areas: Commercial lunar economy and international partnerships, though not yet profitable amid scaling costs.

Visualizing Intuitive Machines's Financial Flows

The Sankey chart below visualizes how each dollar flows from gross revenue, through costs and expenses, down to net income. This helps investors spot where value is created, what areas weigh on profits, and how efficiently the company operates.

• Most revenue flows into gross profit, with operating expenses (especially SG&A) taking the largest chunk.
• Even after significant investments, 13.3% of revenue drops to the bottom line.

Key Takeaways

• Intuitive Machines's money comes overwhelmingly from NASA lunar mission contracts
• High gross and net margins illustrate the power of Intuitive Machines's asset-light mission services model
• Heavy investment in spacecraft development, balanced by efficiency in cost of revenue reductions
• Ongoing growth is driven by NASA CLPS program wins and mission backlogs

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FAQ About Intuitive Machines's Income Statement

1. What is the main source of Intuitive Machines's revenue in 2025?

Intuitive Machines generates over 100% of its revenue from lunar mission contracts and services, primarily with NASA.

2. How profitable is Intuitive Machines in Q3 2025?

Intuitive Machines reported net income of $7.0M in Q3 2025, with a net margin of approximately 13.3%, reflecting moderate profitability driven by non-operating gains despite operating losses.

3. What are the largest expense categories for Intuitive Machines?

The biggest expenses on Intuitive Machines's income statement are operating expenses, particularly Sales, General & Administrative (SG&A) costs. SG&A investment reached $20.3M in Q3 2025, as Intuitive Machines prioritizes scaling for new contracts and public company operations.

4. Why does the core business operate at a loss?

The core operations, despite generating $52.4M in revenue, posted an operating loss implied by $26.8M in operating expenses exceeding $11.4M gross profit in Q3 2025. This is because Intuitive Machines aggressively invests in space infrastructure expansion, believing these will drive long-term growth—even if unprofitable today.

5. How does Intuitive Machines's effective tax rate compare to previous years?

Intuitive Machines's effective tax rate in Q3 2025 was 0%, consistent with previous years. This low rate is primarily due to net operating loss carryforwards and startup-phase tax benefits.