Fifty years after Apollo 17, humans are headed back to the Moon – and this time, it’s not just about planting flags and coming home.

A real commercial ecosystem is forming around lunar access: private companies building landers, communications networks, and surface infrastructure that governments are now paying to use on a recurring basis. This is what people mean when they talk about lunar economy stocks – companies positioned to profit as the Moon transitions from a one-off mission destination to an actual, serviceable location with infrastructure, supply chains, and yes, eventually a base.

This article breaks down what the lunar economy actually is, the government programs driving it, the strongest moon exploration investment options heading into 2027, and the real risks you need to weigh before putting money toward any space infrastructure stocks tied to this race.

What Is the Lunar Economy?

The lunar economy is the emerging set of commercial activities built around getting to, operating on, and extracting value from the Moon – landers, communications relays, mining equipment, surface mobility vehicles, and the contracts that fund all of it. Its core purpose is straightforward: shift lunar access from a government-only, one-mission-at-a-time model to a repeatable, commercially serviced one, where private companies sell capabilities the same way contractors sell services on Earth.

A handful of companies are already proving this model works. Intuitive Machines made history in 2024 by successfully soft-landing its Nova-C lander on the Moon – the first U.S. lunar surface landing since 1972 – and has since won six NASA contracts and expanded aggressively into national security and lunar infrastructure work.

The investment opportunity here is real but early-stage. This is a sector with genuine government backing and growing private capital, but most of the companies involved are still years away from consistent profitability.

Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) LunA-10

This is DARPA’s 10-Year Lunar Architecture study, launched to figure out how to move lunar infrastructure away from every mission building its own isolated power, communications, and data systems – toward a shared, interoperable framework that’s commercially self-sustaining by 2035. Fourteen companies, including Lockheed Martin and SpaceX, are already involved, working on shared concepts like lunar power generation and surface communications networks that multiple future missions could plug into instead of building from scratch.

Artemis Accords

A set of non-binding principles established in 2020 governing how nations cooperate on lunar and deep-space activity. They’ve grown from eight founding signatories to more than 60 countries as of early 2026, making them one of the most important diplomatic frameworks shaping how the lunar economy will actually operate across borders.

Commercial Providers

Companies like Intuitive Machines, Lockheed Martin, and Northrop Grumman are no longer just waiting on NASA checks – they’re building reusable platforms, acquiring smaller specialists, and competing directly for recurring lunar and cislunar contracts. That shift is exactly what the lunar economy depends on to become self-sustaining.

NASA’s Artemis Program

Artemis is NASA’s program to return humans to the Moon and, eventually, prepare for Mars. The uncrewed Artemis I flew in November 2022, and on April 1, 2026, Artemis II carried four astronauts – Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover, Christina Koch, and CSA astronaut Jeremy Hansen – on a crewed lunar flyby, the first crewed mission beyond low Earth orbit since Apollo.

The program hasn’t stood still since Artemis II returned to Earth – NASA has moved quickly to restructure its entire mission sequence. Artemis III, now targeting late 2027, has been redesigned as an Earth-orbit test mission – astronauts will dock with prototypes of Blue Origin’s Blue Moon and SpaceX’s Starship lunar landers in orbit to stress-test critical systems before anyone goes near the surface. The actual crewed lunar landing has shifted to Artemis IV, targeted for early 2028. NASA is also planning at least one lunar landing per year thereafter, with Artemis V – which would see the first efforts toward a permanent Moon base – targeted for late 2028.

Beyond the mission schedule, NASA is now serious about what happens after the landing. In May 2026, the agency unveiled detailed plans for a permanent lunar base near the south pole, with Administrator Jared Isaacman backing the vision with roughly $20 billion in committed funding. NASA’s FY2027 budget request includes $8.5 billion specifically for Artemis and Mars-focused capabilities, with an additional $3 billion earmarked for the broader commercial orbital economy.

Several publicly traded companies sit directly in the path of this spending. Intuitive Machines holds active NASA Artemis and Lunar Terrain Vehicle contracts. Lockheed Martin builds the Orion crew capsule. Northrop Grumman contributes solid rocket motors – the final booster motor segments for Artemis III’s SLS rocket shipped from Northrop’s facility in June 2026 – and space logistics systems supporting the broader architecture.

Lunar Economy Stocks

Not every company playing the Moon race looks the same from an investment standpoint. Some are pure-play lunar bets with volatile stocks and no profits yet. Others are defense giants with Moon exposure quietly tucked inside a much larger balance sheet.

Intuitive Machines (LUNR)

The purest retail play on the Moon race available today. Intuitive Machines made its second successful lunar landing in 2025, and has since been on an acquisition and contract-winning spree. It picked up Lanteris Space Systems in an $800 million deal to become a vertically integrated space contractor, and just this week secured its sixth NASA Commercial Lunar Payload Services (CLPS) award – a contract worth up to $148.3 million to deliver a production-line-qualified Nova-C lander to the Moon by 2028. CEO Steve Altemus framed it directly: “We are shifting the paradigm from custom aerospace engineering to commercial mass production of lunar infrastructure.”

The fundamentals are improving. LUNR posted record quarterly revenue of $186.7 million and its first positive adjusted EBITDA in Q1 2026, alongside a record backlog of $1.1 billion. Analysts carry a consensus Buy rating with an average price target of $39.29 – Roth Capital has a $75 target.

The stock itself is a different story. LUNR is currently trading around $20, down more than 52% from its 52-week high of $46.75, with a market cap near $4.2 billion. It’s still posting operating losses, and the volatility here is extreme. If you buy LUNR, you’re making a bet on long-term execution – not near-term price stability. LUNR trades on the NASDAQ.

Lockheed Martin (LMT)

The steady hand on this list. Lockheed builds the Orion capsule central to every crewed Artemis mission, plus GPS and missile-warning satellites that generate reliable, diversified revenue regardless of what the Moon program does in any given quarter. You’re not buying lunar upside here so much as defense-backed stability with lunar exposure layered in – which, for some investors, is exactly the right combination. LMT trades on the NYSE.

Northrop Grumman (NOC)

Best known broadly for the James Webb Space Telescope, Northrop also contributes directly to Artemis through solid rocket motors and lunar logistics vehicle development alongside partners like Intuitive Machines. Like Lockheed, it’s a large, diversified defense contractor rather than a pure lunar bet – but it gives investors a lower-volatility path to the same government contract flow that’s funding the Moon race. NOC trades on the NYSE.

Bottom Line

The lunar economy is no longer science fiction. NASA has astronauts flying lunar flybys again, DARPA and 14 companies are actively designing shared Moon infrastructure, a permanent lunar base is now officially funded and planned, and more than 60 countries have signed onto a framework for how to operate there.

For investors, that translates into a real but genuinely risky opportunity. Intuitive Machines offers the most direct exposure to the Moon race itself – real contracts, real backlog, and real revenue growth – but the stock has been punishing to hold through its volatility swings. Lockheed Martin and Northrop Grumman offer steadier, more diversified exposure through their Artemis contracts, without the white-knuckle price action.

The risk across all of this is real. Government space programs have a long history of schedule slips and budget swings. Smaller pure-play names like Intuitive Machines are still burning cash at the operating level. And the entire lunar economy thesis depends on technology and timelines that are only now starting to prove out. Go in with clear expectations about the time horizon you’re investing on.

FAQs

What is Intuitive Machines?

A Houston-based space company that has successfully landed on the Moon twice, and has since expanded into satellite infrastructure, national security space programs, and lunar logistics through acquisitions. It just secured its sixth NASA CLPS contract, worth up to $148.3 million, to deliver a lunar lander by 2028.

How do I invest in the lunar economy?

Buy shares of publicly traded lunar economy stocks like Intuitive Machines, Lockheed Martin, or Northrop Grumman through any standard brokerage account, searching their respective tickers – LUNR, LMT, and NOC.

What companies are involved in the moon landing?

Intuitive Machines has successfully landed on the Moon twice. Lockheed Martin builds the Orion capsule for NASA’s Artemis missions, and Northrop Grumman contributes propulsion and lunar logistics systems. SpaceX and Blue Origin are both developing lunar landers for Artemis IV’s first crewed landing, targeted for 2028.

Which stocks benefit from NASA’s Artemis program?

Intuitive Machines, Lockheed Martin, and Northrop Grumman are the most direct publicly traded beneficiaries –each holds active Artemis-related contracts.

Is the lunar economy a real investment opportunity?

Yes, but it’s an early-stage one. Government funding and commercial contracts are genuinely growing, Intuitive Machines is posting real revenue and backlog, and NASA now has a funded plan for a permanent Moon base. That said, the sector carries significant volatility and execution risk, and most pure-play names aren’t consistently profitable yet.

Benzinga Disclaimer: This article is from an unpaid external contributor. It does not represent Benzinga’s reporting and has not been edited for content or accuracy.