Participants
Stephen Zhang; Senior Director of Investor Relations; Intuitive Machines Inc
Stephen Altemus; President, Chief Executive Officer, Director; Intuitive Machines Inc
Pete McGrath; Senior Vice President, Chief Financial Officer; Intuitive Machines Inc
Suji DeSilva; Analyst; Roth Capital Partners
Mike Crawford; Analyst; B. Riley Securities
Austin Moeller; Analyst; Canaccord Genuity
Andres Sheppard; Analyst; Cantor Fitzgerald
Edison Yu; Analyst; Deutsche Bank
Ronald Epstein; Analyst; BofA Global Research
Josh Sullivan; Analyst; The Benchmark Company LLC
Greg Pendy; Analyst; Clear Street
Erik Rasmussen; Analyst; Stifel Nicolaus and Company, Incorporated
Presentation
Operator
Good day, ladies and gentlemen. Thank you for standing by, and welcome to the Intuitive Machine's fourth quarter and full year 2024 conference call. (Operator Instructions) Please note that today's conference is being recorded.
I would like to send the conference over to Stephen Zhang, Head of Investor Relations. Please go ahead.
Stephen Zhang
Good morning. Welcome to the Intuitive Machines fourth-quarter and full-year 2024 earnings call. Chief Executive Officer, Steve Altemus; and Chief Financial Officer, Pete McGrath, are leading the call today.
Before we begin, please note that some of the information discussed during today's call will consist of forward-looking statements, setting forth our current expectations with respect to the future of our business, the economy, and other events. The company's actual results could differ materially from those indicated in any forward-looking statements due to many factors.
These factors are described under forward-looking statements in the company's earnings press release and the company's most recent 10-K and 10-Q filed with the SEC. We do not undertake any obligation to update forward-looking statements.
We also expect to discuss certain financial measures and information that are non-GAAP measures as defined in the applicable SEC rules and regulations. Reconciliation to the company's GAAP measures are included in the earnings release filed on Form 8-K.
Finally, we posted an earnings call presentation on our website, which provides additional context on our operational and financial performance. You can find this presentation on our Investor Relations page at www.intuitivemachines.com/investors.
Now, I'll turn the call over to Steve Altemus.
Stephen Altemus
Good morning, and thanks for joining our fourth-quarter and full-year 2024 earnings call. Just two years ago, we became a public company with a bold vision for the future. Over the past year, we've deliberately positioned ourselves for long-term success by expanding our technical capabilities, opening new revenue streams, and fortifying our financial position.
In the fourth quarter, we reported revenue of $54.7 million contributing to a record fiscal year revenue of $228 million. This exceeded the midpoint of our previous guidance range and is a reflection of our ability to execute and grow within the lunar commercialization sector.
Our financial position remains robust. We ended 2024 with a record cash balance of $207.6 million following a successful equity raise in December. As of March 10, our cash balance stood at $385 million after recent warrant exercises. This strong liquidity position ensures that Intuitive Machines is well funded for the future. Now with a fortress-like balance sheet, we're seeking the highest return opportunities, whether that's through internal innovation or strategic acquisitions.
We got to this point because we choose to tackle one of the hardest challenges first, landing on the moon. Now, the technologies and expertise that built our initial lunar program are ready to expand our reach into new markets and new customers.
This year is not just about growth. It's about defining the future of our company and the industry itself. The fourth quarter welcomed the new administration that is revamping the whole of government, and NASA is not excluded from that. There's been a shift in how the federal government approaches the acquisition of technology-based goods and services, and we believe Intuitive Machines is well positioned for this.
The new administration has signaled a strong emphasis on stretching the federal dollar by shifting from large, government-owned, costless development programs to commercial service models that leverage private sector innovation that demands service providers thrive in a fixed price ecosystem with revenue service tail, similar to the environment Intuitive Machines has grown up in, with clips, with LTV, and the Near Space Network contracts.
The federal government changes and uncertainty at NASA is an opportunity for Intuitive Machines to expand our customer base into areas like national security space and broaden our service footprint in addition to lunar, further diversifying our role in the space economy. We're in a position to do this because we're operating an end-to-end lunar program with a regular cadence of missions.
The infrastructure, expertise, and proven capabilities required for lunar missions inherently support a wide range of space operations. Offering our validated technologies and capabilities is a natural progression into other markets. These technologies and capabilities form the foundation of our three pillars of commercialization.
They are delivery services, data transmission services, and infrastructure as a service. What we've demonstrated from operating two lunar missions is that there are essential capabilities necessary for sustained and resilient operations across all three service pillars.
The first is extensible and reliable space communications. This secure and continuous connectivity is essential for transmitting data, coordinating missions, and making real-time decisions in flight and on the surface of any celestial body.
The second is position navigation and timing, also known as PNT. Just as GPS enables seamless navigation on Earth, precise and repeatable navigation is required to support flight, orbit, and landing operations; surface mobility; and resource utilization.
The final capability is autonomy and artificial intelligence. Given the distance and complexity of space operations, autonomy and AI-powered systems play a critical role in managing assets, executing scientific objectives, and mission success.
The IM-2 mission demonstrated significant advancements in all three capabilities. But to be straightforward, spaceflight is a complex endeavor. For every mission, we must accept a degree of risk and the possibility of subsystem faults. And that picture isn't always black and white.
On one hand, our lunar lander, Athena, touched down inside a shallow crater of the moon's south pole, a place we believe holds frozen water trapped beneath the surface but previous missions avoided because of the jagged terrain, deep craters, and brutal cold.
While Athena's landing didn't go quite as planned, our teams accelerated payload operations, including operating NASA's PRIME-1 drill suite; Nokia's lunar surface communication system; Intuitive Machines' Micro Nova Hopper; and several commercial payloads, including a Japanese micro rover and edge computing data center, to bring back valuable data capturing the majority of the outstanding $15.8 million of final success payments. As a reminder, 90% of the NASA commercial payments and associated revenue is earned and paid before launch.
On the other hand, from the moment Athena launched on February 26, every mission step to landing validated Intuitive Machines' ability to provide reliable space communications and navigation using our data transmission network.
Through the reliability of our network, we executed autonomous precision main engine firings on the way to the moon using our proprietary propulsion system, conducted precision orbital maneuvers, used AI powered systems to guide our spacecraft across 39 lunar orbits, and performed high-bandwidth data transmission that outpaced IM-1's capabilities by 5x. All of this while demonstrating our network is interoperable with the NASA's Deep Space Network and the National Radio Astronomy Observatory Network, a requirement for national security space.
The function of our spacecraft for the entire mission was nearly flawless. And its contribution towards advancing our data transmission network directly supports our execution of NASA's $4.8 billion Near Space Network services contract and the company's position as a utility provider for space data transmission, similar to the way telecommunications companies bill customers on the amount of data they use. Surface delivery missions like IM-1 and IM-2 provides the baseline for proving technology that leads to opening the space economy.
For IM-2 and every space exploration mission, engineers conduct a critical post-flight review of the mission's performance. We call this a hot wash. Over the next several weeks, Intuitive Machines will lead internal, external, and independent reviews. We invited NASA, the European Space Agency, and NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory experts to participate.
Intuitive Machines expects to keep its third lunar mission on track for this time next year, incorporating findings and corrective actions from these reviews. The mission includes NASA and commercial payload delivery near the moon's equator, a generally flat terrain called Reiner Gamma. One of the mission's primary objectives is researching magnetic anomalies using rover technology.
In addition to the mission's surface delivery, IM-3 will also deploy the first of five planned data relay satellites under the Near Space Network contract. The data relay satellite is deployed as a rideshare from the second stage of the rocket, independent of the lander.
We demonstrated satellite deployment on our last mission with three rideshare payloads, including two that utilize our data transmission network for communication and navigation services. The first data relay satellite deployment opens additional Near Space Network contract task orders beyond the initial validation task orders of $150 million for the contract, introducing a pay-by-the-minute service model which we expect to have higher margin and recurring revenue streams.
In December, Intuitive Machines secured additional awards under the contract for direct-to-Earth services. We believe the additional awards position the company to capitalize on the full $4.8 billion maximum potential value. We intend to deliver the second and third data relay satellites as rideshare payloads along with our fourth NASA-contracted surface delivery mission, IM-4, in 2027, followed by the final two satellite deployments approximately one year later to complete the constellation.
As I said at the top of the call, the new White House administration is instituting a more modern acquisition strategy for how to procure technology services. We believe that benefits Intuitive Machines, and we're in a position to expand our customer base and apply those services in addition to lunar space without accepting excessive work.
As we move into 2025, we're focused on diversification of customers and markets, and we've already made progress. Expanding data transmission services for our lunar satellite constellation outside the Near Space Network contract needed authorization to work with other government agencies, and the company now has those permissions.
To capitalize on that opportunity, Intuitive Machines appointed James Frelk as Senior Vice President of Data Services in the first quarter of this year. Jim has more than 30 years of experience in national security, commercial satellites, intelligence, surveillance, reconnaissance, and other critical programs in government commercial industry.
Our lunar lander performance in getting to and operating in orbit was exceptional during IM-2, and we're actively leveraging that capability, finalizing a Phase 2 contract with a government customer for an orbital transfer vehicle. The contract is designed to advance in-space mobility and logistics using the same lunar lander core technology in this orbit delivery vehicle.
Last year, NASA proposed cancellation of the on-orbit servicing assembly and manufacturing project, OSAM. We're now capitalizing on NASA's traditional contracting investment to develop low Earth orbit programs. By right now we're conducting a space force study on how to commercialize OSAM for geostationary orbit, a new playing field for Intuitive Machines. We believe this co-investment model is the kind of forward-thinking approach the new administration is encouraging in its acquisition strategy.
Finally, financially, we remain strong with growing revenue, expanding margins, and a record cash balance. 2025 is about execution as the company expects two NASA commercial lunar payload services contract bids this year. The first is due in May with an anticipated contract award in July, followed by an additional task order later in the year.
In addition, Intuitive Machines has been invited to speak to the House of Representatives on our vision for the next version of CLPS to include larger cargo class lunar deliveries, potentially creating high margin opportunities. Our vision for heavy cargo class landers applies directly to our lunar terrain vehicle delivery service, which we anticipate will be awarded in the second half of 2025.
That concludes my comments. Now, I will hand off to Pete McGrath, our CFO, for further comments on our financials. Pete?
Pete McGrath
Thank you, Steve, and thanks to everybody joining us today. As Steve mentioned, we ended the year strong with Q4 revenues of $54.7 million, up 79% over the same quarter of the prior year, and finished with record highs in both cash and backlog.
Q4 revenue was primarily driven by CLPS, OMES, and LTVS execution. OMES' revenue was $30 million in the quarter, down about $4 million from Q3, as expected. Keep in mind, as Steve mentioned, we are performing a study to commercialize the use of OSAM for the Space Force.
Gross profit was$ 0.7 million for the quarter versus $0.3 million in the prior year as we drive consistently towards profitability. Operating loss for the quarter was $13.4 million versus the loss of $7.5 million in the fourth quarter of 2023. The higher operating loss in the quarter was driven primarily by a higher SG&A.
SG&A for the quarter was $13.5 million versus $6.4 million in the prior year. A higher SG&A was due to increases in public company costs, employee compensation and benefits, and rent on our corporate headquarters as well as our new offices in Maryland and Phoenix.
The prior year also included the impact of incentive comp accrual reversal as we look to preserve cash. Current SG&A cost represents our estimated steady state of business going forward.
Operating cash used was $2 million in the quarter, with the capital expenditures of $4.9 million, resulting in a free cash outflow in the quarter of $6.9 million. As we mentioned on the last earnings call, favorable operating cash in Q4 include the timing impact of two significant receivables, specifically timing on OMES and the IM-4 milestone one payment.
CapEx in the quarter was driven primarily by the investments in our first Near Space Network satellite. Going forward, we expect to see CapEx for five satellite constellations around the moon in support of NSN. These CapEx levels will be offset by higher margin service revenues from the NSNS program.
Our cash balance significantly increased in Q4 to $207.6 million, another company record. This increase was driven by $116.9 million of cash raised in the quarter, which included a $10 million strategic investment from Boryung Corporation and the remaining from our follow-on equity offering.
Note that more recently, in Q1 2025, we cleaned up the majority of our overhangs since [DSPAC], namely through the redemption process of our $11.50 strike price warrants. The majority of our warrants were exercised at $11.50 each, resulting in $148 million cash to the company. 6.6 million warrants were unexercised in exchange for $0.01 each. We currently have no outstanding $11.50 public issued warrants.
As of March 18, we had 178.3 million shares outstanding following the warrant redemption process, with 115.7 million shares of Class A and 62.6 million shares of Class C. The exercise of warrants, along with diligent cash management to start the year, resulted in a cash balance of $385 million as of March 10 of 2025.
To further fortify our liquidity position, while in a position of strength as a company, we opened a $40 million dollar credit facility with favorable financial terms. This facility remains unused and is meant to smooth out our working capital ups and downs as we work through the timing impact of milestone payments for our programs and our respective cost schedule.
We ended the fourth quarter with contracted backlog of $328.3 million, another record for the company. We expect to recognize 60% to 65% of our backlog during 2025, 15% to 20% during 2026, and the remaining thereafter. Keep in mind this does not yet include the full set of initial task orders for the Near Space Network Services contract totaling $150 million or any new awards we may receive throughout the year.
Moving on to guidance. Last year, our revenue was $228 million. And for 2025, we see a range of $250 million to $300 million. The expected growth of our key programs is expected to more than offset the impact of OSAM, which was roughly 40% to 50% of the OMES revenue in 2024. This represents a tremendous shift in our business mix as we focus on expanding revenues into higher margin services.
On the profitability side, we're continuing to demonstrate improvement in margins with a focus on having a positive run rate adjusted EBITDA by fourth quarter of 2025 and a positive adjusted EBITDA by 2026. Overall, this was another strong quarter and a historic year for Intuitive Machines. Last year, we set aggressive but reasonable guidance targets. We're proud to have exceeded the midpoint of the range.
We effectively managed cash and set the company up with a fortress balance sheet, a streamlined capital structure with a substantially reduced overhang from derivative securities, and no outstanding debt. We look forward to continuing this growth trajectory in 2025 with a focus on driving towards profitability and achieving our financial targets.
With that, operator, we are now ready for questions.
Question and Answer Session
Operator
(Operator Instructions) Suji DeSilva, Roth Capital.
Suji DeSilva
So maybe you can talk first about the -- you talked about the funding and the balance sheet being stronger and strategic moves beyond NASA and cislunar expanding reach new market customers. Steve, maybe you can give a framework of where you could see Intuitive Machines' headed three to five years out that would paint a picture of what you might be thinking of beyond what you've done to date.
Stephen Altemus
Yeah, when we think about the company, we're really moving into this data services business -- full court press here. Because what we see that the lunar data network that we're installing with the data relay satellites and the ground stations is really, I would deem, a national asset. And that asset can be used by many different customers.
It also gives us the capability for alternate forms of GPS. It gives us ability to communicate in a difficult location around the moon, but those services can also be brought back towards Earth.
So you see us expanding in the Near Space Network regime at multi-layer domains in space, from low Earth orbit to geosynchronous orbit out to cislunar space. We're just doing it in reverse order, from lunar space back backwards. So that's what you can look for over the next three to five years.
Suji DeSilva
Okay. And then maybe you could touch on specifically the orbital terrain vehicle, the spacecraft there. And you said there's a government contract there. Maybe you can talk about that product line and how we should think about that.
Stephen Altemus
Yeah, the nebula, as we call it, is a derivative of the Nova-C science autonomous robotic lander that we flew to the moon twice. And so it's a cryogenic stage, essentially a third stage, if you will, with our proprietary propulsion system.
And we can deliver satellites, multiple satellites, to varying locations in space around the cislunar space. And that's of interest to some customers, and we're doing that under a commercial contract with -- as a subcontractor for a government customer.
Suji DeSilva
Okay. Great, Steve. And then last question, I'll pass it along. As you talk about '26, adjusted EBITDA positive, maybe you could talk about two elements of that guidance in terms of the maybe long term growth rate of the revenues that would be a reasonable set of bands to think about and then the operating expense growth expectation to get to that '26 guide.
Pete McGrath
Yeah. So I probably won't provide guidance on what our growth rate is going forward beyond '25. But we -- if you look at where we were in terms of our run rate and our G&A expense, we've stabilized around a good G&A spend rate, which is going to really help us as we continue to grow on the profits and the margin side towards that EBITDA- positive case.
Operator
Mike Crawford, B. Riley Securities.
Mike Crawford
Regarding the lunar terrain vehicle down select which you said you still expect to occur in 2H '25. Is there anything from that baked in to the current guidance?
Stephen Altemus
Mike, the way we look at that one is that will affect 2026 primarily and not necessarily 2025 with that award coming so late in the year, we believe. There are alternatives that the government may consider in terms of how they award that.
They may choose multiple bidders, down select to two, take two to CDR, or give the full demonstration to a single bidder. I'm not quite sure what the shape of that procurement will look like, but we did not include any of the LTV beyond the initial $30 million in the operating plan for 2025.
Mike Crawford
And then regarding the data relay satellite deployments, what -- is there an order to the range points that you're targeting for the second and third payloads and beyond?
Pete McGrath
So just to clarify, you're looking for the timeline for deployment of the satellites.
Mike Crawford
Yeah. And does it matter to which location each goes to, in order?
Pete McGrath
Good. So our current baseline plan is that the first satellite will go up as a rideshare on IM-3 which is scheduled for about this time next year. And then the second and third will go up as a rideshare on IM-4 which we're currently slating for the second half of '27. And then the fourth and fifth would go up about a year after that.
They're all going to a highly elliptical polar orbit around the moon that will have a long spare time around the south pole, which is a requirement from NASA in terms of the coverage over the south pole region.
Operator
Austin Moeller, Canaccord Genuity.
Austin Moeller
So just my first question, has the data collected during IM-2 impacted your conversations with NASA or plans for the upsize Nova-D lander? And has NASA decided if they will pay a vendor to deliver the VIPER Rover yet?
Stephen Altemus
With respect to Nova-D, we're currently in the design cycle to get to preliminary design review for the demonstration mission for LTV delivery. So Nova-D continues on. We are doing the hot wash associated with IM-2 and the faults we saw on the laser altimeters, and we're doing a complete system review.
I don't expect much change to the way the design's going for Nova-D coming out of that hot wash. And like I said in my comments, Austin, that we'll actually look at any effects to IM-3 other than the laser range finders that might be incorporated into that that mission this time next year.
The other part of your question was the VIPER. Right now, NASA put out an RFP to industry to say -- after they looked at all the RFIs that were submitted and said, hey, submit a proposal. They'll do a down select. Once they see all those proposals, we expect that down select here shortly, probably by the end of the month, and then they'll do a down select from those from ones that give a good plan or meet the competitive range.
I'm not sure what we're going to do with that VIPER yet. The way that came out, that's got to be fully funded without the -- without NASA. And NASA retains all the data, so it's quite limited in our ability to commercialize it. So we're still thinking about what we want to do there.
Austin Moeller
Okay. And if we just think a little bit further out, the new administration has said they have Mars as a priority. So has the new administrator discussed with you or the other CLPS participants an equivalent program for doing commercial landers on Mars, just given the cost overruns on Mars sample return?
Stephen Altemus
We've been talking for about two years now with the agency and the administrators and deputy administrators of the agency about using the CLPS model to replace the aging infrastructure around Mars. And so that conversation has been well received so far.
We have not had discussions yet about how that might play in this administration or with this new administrator once confirmed. So we plan to have those discussions and see what that might be.
I would say, though, that it is clear to us from our discussions on the Hill with everybody that we run into and talk to and meet with is that the moon is of strategic interest and will remain that way. The idea of Mars first or Mars only is really not the mainstream thinking at this time. Mainstream thinking is that a stretch goal for Mars is a good thing for the country, while the moon is of strategic interest and will remain so.
Operator
Andres Sheppard, Cantor Fitzgerald.
Andres Sheppard
Congratulations on the quarter, and thanks for taking our question. I was just wondering if maybe you could elaborate a little bit further on some of the data that you were able to procure from the IM-2 mission, maybe particularly on the Nokia side. Just curious if you could tell us how that communication work out versus expected.
Stephen Altemus
Let's see. Nokia Bell Labs had a fully successful payload operations on the moon, where they tested out each element of their cellular network with us. Even though we were on our side, Nokia was able to power up and communicate with each part of that network, demonstrating that technology, Earth-based technology hardened for space, was successful.
And so this is really a good news story in terms of how you can take that technology all the way to TRL level 9. And now, we have the basis for surface communications between elements on the moon. So a rousing success for Nokia Bell Labs.
Andres Sheppard
And maybe just as a quick follow up, Steve, you touched on this a little bit on the call. But maybe just remind us, what are the key catalysts, maybe the near-term key catalyst, that you think investors should be aware of, as we look for in 2025?
Stephen Altemus
Yeah. So right now, the team is getting ready for the Nova-D design cycle review with NASA on that delivery vehicle, the heavy cargo variant for delivery of the LTV. And we'll also do a preliminary design review with NASA in the first half of this year on the LTV itself, lunar trained vehicle.
And then you heard that we're going to have the next CLPS mission, called CS6 procurement, in May. Proposals are due with award in July. And then finally, there's a third project or contract, that's the second CLPS award this year which we expect later in the year.
So those are the big contract award milestones. While we prepare our first satellite for launch on IM-3 this time next year, that satellite will be delivered for integration to the -- to us for our payload integration this year and ready to fly early next year.
Operator
Edison Yu, Deutsche Bank.
Edison Yu
First, I want to ask about the cash. You're obviously in a very good position now after the recent raises. How are we thinking about deploying that? Do you have a pipeline of M&A that might be of interest?
Stephen Altemus
So we have a continuing process of review for opportunistic M&A where we review what capabilities as a company we want to put -- add on where we have soft spots in the supply chain, for example, or where we want to vertically integrate. We also want to think about markets and opening up a new customer and diversify our revenue streams.
So we look at these on a continuing basis, and we'll be strategic in our assessment of M&A going forward. There's also a number of technology innovations that we want to on-ramp. In particular, for the Nova-D, we want to make sure that the propulsion system is developed in a way that can support the heavier cargo lander.
So for example, investment in an e-pump project to put electric pumps on the main engine would be a good project we've already started. So there'll be some of those innovations we'll be doing with the capital, and some of the strategic M&A we're thinking about will continue.
Edison Yu
Understood. And now, a follow up. You mentioned the new administration earlier. I'm wondering if you can talk about the potential opportunities in defense in the context of some of these big programs. Is there a lot of incremental TAM that could be derived from some type of DOD defense path?
Stephen Altemus
Yeah. The way I talk about defense tech or DOD tech is really national security space tech. So as we're building out our network, the Near Space Network services, there's a lot of space domain awareness, space traffic management capability by having assets in and around the moon that we can move into that market and, like I said, other areas where communications are needed.
Data relay, we have that architecture now and that that IP associated with flying those kinds of data relay satellites with those kind of radio packages and sensors. All that can be applied to that national security space market.
Operator
Ronald Epstein, Bank of America.
Ronald Epstein
I mean, so far, we've covered a lot of ground. But I just wanted to circle back on what's you're thinking on the impact that the Department of Government Efficiency could have on NASA, what it could mean for you guys. And Musk seems to be a big influence here, and he keeps talking about Mars. How do we circle that all up, and what's it mean for you?
Stephen Altemus
Well, I think the Department of Government Efficiency is looking to drive efficiency within NASA, in particular in our case. And the monies that are recaptured or saved can be applied to commercial space endeavors that could be more efficient.
And so like I said, Intuitive Machines is in a position now where we can navigate this kind of commercial market. We're driving innovation in a rapid, affordable way to deliver space systems reliably, and that is attractive for this modern era or modern administration approach towards NASA.
So I think this is good. This is the way the space agency can get more accomplished and be more globally competitive. So I think in the end, while there might be reformulations within Artemis or changes within the civil servant workforce of NASA, the efficiency of the government, driving innovation, and delivering space systems on a regular cadence is only good for, like I said, our global competitiveness. So I think that's a good thing.
Mars first. Mars is further away. As an architect, space architect, I can tell you it's more than a presidential administration away. So while we can have a stretch goal to aim and build the technologies for Mars, like I said, the moon is of strategic interest and will remain so.
And so that's where our focus will be. However, a lot of our technologies are extensible to deeper space, and we will be looking at opportunities to replace some of the aging infrastructure around Mars if that's the direction the country wants to go.
Ronald Epstein
And then, I mean, just maybe two follow-ons, if I can. Be it that Mars is farther away, right, if we look at it as an opportunity, wouldn't that suggest that that's just a lot more work which could potentially be good for you if they were to go that way?
Meaning -- you know what I mean? Like, it is a bigger hurdle, but the bigger hurdle would require more funding. I don't know if I'm thinking about that right. But if they do push that way or maybe push that way in parallel, that could potentially be good, right?
Stephen Altemus
Well, I think if you think about constrained budgets, that's one of the factors that the House and the Senate are going to have to deal with in how they fund future space programs. We -- if we say that there's efficiency coming out of NASA, the Artemis program may move to the right.
What's important is that the Near Space Network is decoupled from Artemis currently in the budget and that gets implemented so that we have a strategic asset in and around the moon and we revamped the Mars sample return to become more affordable. That might create more opportunity to put the aging infrastructure replacements in orbit around Mars.
And so you'd have to look at all the deck chairs and how they get shuffled. But all of this speaks to the need for agile commercial space involvement in not only opening the cislunar economy, but actually contributing to commercializing Mars.
Ronald Epstein
Got it. And then maybe this is the last one. If -- we're in a continuing resolution for fiscal '25. I mean, it seems like that's what's going to happen, right, or like maybe just a hair away from that. But a lot of people are now talking that fiscal '26 could be a continuing resolution. How does that impact you, I mean, when we think about your business and a CR or two years of a CR?
Stephen Altemus
Well, our company currently is working on existing programs that are covered under the continuing resolution, and those programs exist moving forward -- would exist moving forward in a continuing resolution in 2026, obviously.
It might -- we'll have to see about what happens there. I did mention I'm going up to testify on the House Subcommittee to talk about CLPS 2.0, and the follow on and how it's moving towards heavier cargo deliveries.
Right now, CLPS is funded. NSNS is funded. LTV is funded, so all our programs there with NASA seem to be in a good position.
Operator
Josh Sullivan, The Benchmark Company.
Josh Sullivan
Just on the comment earlier on the full court press into data services. Can you talk maybe about Jim's appointment? How are you modeling that long-term communications revenue model at this point? What is his appointment or perspective to that?
Stephen Altemus
So Jim Frelk was an addition. We were very fortunate to bring Jim on board. He has incredible experience in bringing in -- like starting Digi Globe, which then went to Maxar. He worked for Lockheed. He's worked for NASA.
He's got incredible depth of experience in data services, from Earth observation data services. So when we think about the Near Space Network, we think about data services.
And actually, if you also recall that we now run the LRO camera, lunar reconnaissance orbit camera, and the shadow cam with a group in Phoenix. And so we have the largest repository of lunar data that we steward for NASA.
And we talk about integrating the data products that are collected by LRO with our own data products. We can start to get serious data content out of this network, and Jim is the one who knows how to commercialize that, having done that three times.
And he also brings incredible experience in national security space and connections where we can actually build this network, like I said, as a national asset to serve other government agencies as well. So that's really his forte, and that's why we brought him in as we did. And we're very proud to have him on board.
Josh Sullivan
Got it. And then Steve, on your plans to speak to Congress on CLPS, what needs to be communicated at that event? Or maybe what does Congress need to be convinced of that it's not already inclined to pursue, with CLPS-like models?
Stephen Altemus
Well, the success of the lunar commercialization and where we're going with that in terms of communications, space traffic management, developing infrastructure, and factories on the moon is essential for our strategic interests. Now if you think about CLPS and how you can alter the first CLPS program into 2.0 would be to move towards heavier and heavier cargo.
So to set up that logistics supply that we can get equipment to begin building these factories on the moon and to begin working autonomously on the moon and by emphasizing heavier cargo; spreading that delivery across multiple directorates within NASA, multiple budget line items to serve not only science, but the human spaceflight side, the space technology side, the exploration side. All of that is what we want to communicate to the house about the CLPS 2.0.
Operator
Greg Pendy, Clear Street.
Greg Pendy
Just -- I know you're going through the hot wash right now. But just from the targeted mission for IM-3 with the Rainier Gamma region of the moon, what type of flexibility would you have on that region to possibly push the date out further if you felt you needed that time? What does the launch windows look like for that region of the moon?
Stephen Altemus
Yeah, we have quite a bit of flexibility if needed. Right now, we're not anticipating a shift in the schedule. Should that unexpected shift occur, we have several months of give in that in that schedule to still meet that equatorial mission to Rainer Gamma.
It's not as highly constrained as the south pole missions are, which seem to be occurring in the fourth quarter and first quarter. This can extend first and second quarter easily.
Greg Pendy
And then just one more on that IM-3 mission. What type of timeline would you think you'd need for commissioning on that first satellite before you can get the follow-on task revenue opportunity?
Stephen Altemus
Yeah, we think you get that or -- that bird up in its polar orbit. And we have about a 60- to 90-day commissioning period before we do a communications check, data relay check with an asset in orbit. So our satellite to another asset, that check is a validation task order, and then we can start the follow on operational task order.
Operator
Erik Rasmussen, Stifel.
Erik Rasmussen
You guys gave an outlook for 25 -- from $250 million to $300 million in revenue. Any insights that maybe you can share that gets you to this range? And then maybe just, how should we think about the shape of that growth throughout the year?
Pete McGrath
I guess we'll start with the fact that if you look at the backlog numbers and the percentages I talked about earlier, it gives you a good indication that a lot of our revenue to get to the bottom of the range is from existing contracts and work we have in front of us. Because those are on contract, they're going to be throughout the entire year. So that's a pretty steady rate of revenue.
What we're looking to grow with are the things that Steve mentioned earlier about the opportunities that we have in front of us this year, which include two CLPS opportunities. And there's potential upside depending on what happens with the market and the congressional direction as to funding and NASA direction as to where programs are going, like things where LTVS could actually be awarded this year.
And there could be revenue this year. We're not putting that in our plan today. That gives us some opportunities. So that allows us to fit within the range.
Erik Rasmussen
Great. Maybe just -- I know the hot wash review is ongoing and you're -- there's still a lot of work to be done. But any initial observations that maybe you can share? And I know coming out of IM-1, there was around 60-some-odd items that you needed to address coming into IM-2. Would you expect that list to be maybe as much or greater or less than? Maybe just some initial thoughts would be helpful.
Stephen Altemus
The hot wash is set up, and it's our own idea about -- coming from our experience with working with human spaceflight programs. And we take a 30 day period -- very focused time frame, short interval, but very focused -- and we examine every aspect of the development, development testing, the assembly, integration, and functional testing of the vehicle, how we did at the cape when we went to Florida to do the integration of the payloads, how the launch went -- dress rehearsal went and how the launch went, how the mission all unfolded, and how each phase of the mission all the way down to the surface and the payload operations.
So we're very comprehensive when we take a look at this, and we identify not only what went wrong. What went right? But where were there some soft spots that could use shoring up to increase reliability? Or what were the faults that occurred and what do we need to address?
And those get binned in a set of categories of those that need to be implemented for the next immediate mission or those that can be carried as fleet upgrades as we go forward in the future. So that's the process we expect our internal review meeting on April 3, where we will hear findings from across all the subsystems.
And then we'll probably close that out where we'll finalize everything around April 15. And then from there, we're going to talk to all our stakeholders, our customers, our NASA stakeholders; and share our lessons learned.
So we're very transparent. Like you said, we have some external reviewers from NASA, ESA, and JPL that are subject expert experts. And we're looking forward to the findings because it only makes us better and stronger.
Operator
Thank you. And I'm showing no further questions in the queue at this time. I will now turn a call back over to Intuitive Machines' CEO, Steve Altemus, for any closing remarks.
Stephen Altemus
Well, thank you, everybody, for your participation and your questions. And we're looking forward to another exciting year of growth for Intuitive Machines in 2025. Thank you.
Operator
Ladies and gentlemen, this concludes today's conference call. Thank you for participating. You may now disconnect.
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