Investing.com -- Shares in Intuitive Machines (NASDAQ:LUNR) shed more than a third of their value in premarket U.S. trading on Monday after the firm said its Odysseus Moon lander had likely tipped over on the lunar surface.
The Houston, Texas-based group, which had become the first private firm to land a spacecraft on the Moon, said over the weekend that the vessel was now likely lying on its side.
IM Chief Executive Steve Altemus said that it remained unclear what happened to Odysseus during its landing. It remains in good condition, with all but one of its six payloads facing upwards and receiving communications. These payloads are still expected to be able to carry out their scientific objectives.
According to IM, the payload resting on its side holds a static art project from the artist Jeff Koons.
The decline in IM's stock before the bell pointed to the potential erasure of a 15.8% jump registered in a wild day of trading on Friday. Shares in the company went public via a special-purpose acquisition merger last February, but because only 18% are available to trade, they have been prone to high levels of volatility.