AEye Inc. (LIDR) shares took a breather Wednesday, slipping as investors cashed in on the previous day's pop. The stock had surged more than 30% on Tuesday after the company announced a multimillion-dollar contract with Lunar Outpost.
Lunar Outpost picked AEye's Apollo long-range lidar for its Pegasus Lunar Terrain Vehicle, which is designed to ferry NASA Artemis astronauts across the lunar surface. The deal pushes AEye beyond its usual stomping grounds of automotive, defense, and industrial markets, planting a flag in the growing space mobility sector.
Apollo's Lunar Job
Lunar Outpost plans to use Apollo for terrain perception, obstacle detection, and autonomous navigation, helping Pegasus safely traverse the moon's rugged landscape. Apollo's solid-state design is built to handle extreme temperatures, constant vibration, and the lunar vacuum, while its compact size keeps the vehicle's weight and space in check.
What's more, Apollo's software-defined architecture lets operators tweak scan patterns and performance through software, giving Lunar Outpost the flexibility to tailor the sensor for specific mission needs.
"This multimillion-dollar contract award is a testament to our technology and its ability to address this significant market opportunity," AEye CEO Matt Fisch said.
Beyond Earth
AEye develops software-defined lidar systems for driver assistance, autonomous vehicles, infrastructure, security, defense, and logistics. The company says Apollo can spot objects from as far as one kilometer away.
Lunar Outpost, meanwhile, builds robotic systems and infrastructure for extreme environments, with plans for 10 lunar missions before 2030 to support a long-term human presence on the moon.
AEye shares were down 6.12% at $1.38 during premarket trading Wednesday, according to market data.
