The award of a NASA contract worth up to $4.82 billion has cemented Intuitive Machines Inc.’s position as a key partner in the space agency’s ambitious plans for lunar exploration, according to analyst firm Benchmark.

NASA awarded Intuitive Machines a long-term contract potentially worth $4.82 billion to develop, launch, and operate a five-satellite communications and navigation network around the moon.

NASA said the company was the sole awardee for a "lunar relay systems" contract, which has a maximum total value of $4.82 billion over five years.

Intuitive Machines is “the leading beneficiary of NASA’s lunar commercialization efforts,” says B. Riley Securities analyst Mike Crawford.

To establish a permanent base on the Moon and explore its surface, NASA needs a 21st century communications infrastructure. It chose a small Houston, Texas-based commercial space company to do the job.

The space technology provider announced a contract with NASA that could award some $4.8 billion in work over 10 years.