Billions in FCC payouts are reshaping the GEO satellite market, and Intuitive Machines just caught a wave. The company, better known for lunar landers, confirmed on its second-quarter call that it signed a June contract to build three geostationary communications satellites. The buyer is unnamed and the price tag tops $600M over 30 months.
The spacecraft will fly on the IM 1300 bus, the line Intuitive Machines picked up through its late-2025 purchase of Lanteris Space Systems, formerly Maxar Space Systems. Chief executive Steve Altemus pointed to the flight-proven platform as the draw but would not say whether the order ties to the FCC’s C-band clearing program, which is pushing SES, Eutelsat and Telesat to vacate 160 megahertz of upper C-band spectrum in exchange for more than $6B.
SES holds the biggest stake in that spectrum and has lined up seven hybrid C/Ku-band spacecraft of its own for the transition. Altemus promised more detail on the mystery order later.
The GEO win adds to a crowded defense pipeline. On Aug. 4, prime contractor L3Harris ordered 18 of the smaller IM 300 satellites for the Space Development Agency’s Accelerated Missile Defense Tranche 3. Intuitive Machines says it now holds more than 80 spacecraft under contract, spanning the 1300 and 300 lines, lunar landers and an orbital transfer vehicle called Nebula.
The company is also expanding Houston facilities for lunar spacecraft while keeping capacity on the California line that builds the 300 series.
