WASHINGTON — Intuitive Machines has agreed to purchase a company that operates ground stations in the United States and United Kingdom to help build out a lunar communications network.
Intuitive Machines announced May 14 that it entered into an agreement to acquire Goonhilly Earth Station Ltd. and its American subsidiary, Comsat. Intuitive Machines will pay 37 million pounds ($49.6 million) for Goonhilly, split equally between cash and stock, according to a Securities and Exchange Commission filing. The deal is expected to close in the third quarter pending regulatory approvals in the U.S. and U.K.
Goonhilly operates a ground station in Cornwall, England, that includes 30- and 32-meter antennas that have been used for lunar and deep-space communications. Through Comsat, it operates teleports in Southbury, Connecticut, and Santa Paula, California, that have dozens of antennas.
In a May 14 earnings call to discuss Intuitive Machines’ first-quarter financial results, Chief Executive Steve Altemus noted the company had been working with Goonhilly for several years, including support for its IM-1 and IM-2 lunar lander missions.
“They have been instrumental partners with us in our success to the moon, and it only made sense to broaden our relationship and integrate it, and set them up as the leader of our global ground segment,” he said.
