NASA awards Intuitive Machines $180.4 million lunar payload contract

March 24 (Reuters) - Intuitive Machines LUNR.O said on Tuesday NASA has awarded the space startup a $180.4 million contract to deliver seven science and technology payloads to the moon's south pole.

As part of NASA's Commercial Lunar Payload Services initiative under the agency's Artemis moon program, the contract includes the deliveries of an Australian Space Agency lunar rover and technologies developed by Honeybee Robotics, a unit of Jeff Bezos' Blue Origin.

This marks Intuitive Machines' fifth CLPS delivery mission, which is expected to target Mons Malapert, a ridge near the lunar south pole seen as strategically important for future human and robotic exploration, the company said.

Earlier today, the U.S. space agency chief Jared Isaacman announced an array of changes to the Artemis program including an aim to send more robotic landers to the moon and lay the groundwork for using nuclear power on the lunar surface.