Intuitive Machines and Texas A&M Engineering Experiment Station announce successful migration of the nation’s largest lunar dataset

Intuitive Machines and the Texas A&M Engineering Experiment Station (TEES) today announced the successful migration of the nation’s largest lunar dataset to Texas A&M’s high-performance data infrastructure. The operational deployment secures long-term access to more than 1.8 petabytes of critical lunar surface imagery and topographic data, preserving the foundational digital infrastructure required for future cislunar operations. 

Intuitive Machines is the prime contractor for the operation of NASA’s Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter Camera (LROC) and NASA’s Shadowcam instruments. Together, the data sets represent approximately 67% of NASA’s total planetary data holdings. By protecting and scaling access to this vital dataset, the partnership provides the lunar intelligence required for civil, academic, and commercial partners to map, navigate, and land on the Moon. 

“For 16 years, the LROC team has built the scientific foundation that supports nearly every modern lunar mission across civil space, academia, and commercial exploration,” said Intuitive Machines LROC Principal Investigator, Mark Robinson. “With this archive safely and securely migrated, we’re enabling the next generation of lunar science and operation with data that’s already shaped where we go and how we get there.” 

“The partnership between TEES and Intuitive Machines represents a bold step forward in advancing Texas’ leadership in space-based research and innovation,” said Dr. Robert H. Bishop, Vice Chancellor and Dean of Texas A&M Engineering and Director of TEES. “By distributing lunar data through the West Campus Data Center, we are positioning Texas A&M as a vital facilitator for space science, helping to enable researchers, students and industry collaborators to explore the Moon’s mysteries and drive discovery.”

The high-performance data infrastructure optimizes delivery of critical operational assets within the NASA Planetary Data System (PDS), including: 

• High-resolution images: More than 2.6 million Narrow Angle Camera (NAC) images of the lunar surface
• Terrain models: More than 640,000 Wide-Angle Camera (WAC) high-resolution images of the lunar surface
• Landing site analysis data: Products supporting Artemis and CLPS landing site selection, including Intuitive Machines lunar missions
• ShadowCam images: Observations from ShadowCam, a NASA-funded instrument operated by the LROC team that reveals permanently shadowed regions
• Apollo-era scans: Digitized film scans from all NASA human lunar surface exploration

By protecting and advancing access to the nation’s lunar data assets, Intuitive Machines reinforces its position as the primary digital and physical architecture layer supporting the expansion of the lunar economy. 

Researchers, mission designers, and commercial partners interested in accessing the LROC and ShadowCam data can explore the publicly available archive through the NASA Planetary Data System. 

About Intuitive Machines

Intuitive Machines is a leading space infrastructure company that builds spacecraft, connects networks, and operates infrastructure-as-a-service for commercial, civil, and national security customers.    

With a proven track record across the space domain, the Company, through organic growth and portfolio expansion, has built over 300 spacecraft, delivered over 260 kilograms of payload to the lunar surface, and provided precision navigation expertise that has guided spacecraft across our solar system.  

These capabilities form an integrated Built-Connect-Operate infrastructure service company, enabling customers to achieve mission and campaign outcomes through a single prime solution. Intuitive Machines’ technology has been demonstrated across the space domain and is engineered to support the next century of opportunity in space.   

About TEES

Texas A&M Engineering Experiment Station (TEES) is the official research agency for Texas A&M Engineering and is pivotal in advancing interdisciplinary research across The Texas A&M University System. TEES is dedicated to addressing complex challenges through applied engineering research, managing research grants and contracts and actively fostering partnerships with industry, government and academia, benefiting Texas A&M Engineering faculty and researchers. Technology transition efforts in TEES help move research from the lab to industry and consumers. Additionally, TEES enhances engineering expertise through workforce development, trains professionals in emerging fields and engages educators and students to inspire future engineers.