How to buy Intuitive Machines (LUNR) stock from India

Yes, an Indian resident can buy Intuitive Machines — legally, in US dollars, under the RBI's Liberalised Remittance Scheme (LRS). LUNR trades on NASDAQ. It pays no dividend. Intuitive Machines is the only publicly-traded company that has successfully landed a spacecraft on the Moon — a milestone that also comes with unique binary event risk on every subsequent mission.

The 30-second version

• Legal and simple. Buy LUNR via Vested, INDmoney, or Interactive Brokers India.
• No dividend. No US withholding or Form 44 complexity.
• India tax: hold more than 24 months → 12.5% LTCG; shorter hold → slab rate. Section 112.
• Estate-tax trap: US-situs asset — above $60,000 total US-situs assets, up to 40% US estate tax, no treaty relief.
• The unique risk: LUNR's revenue is CLPS mission-success-dependent. A failed lunar landing doesn't just delay revenue — it may not be recognized at all under the fixed-price contract structure. Position size accordingly; this is a satellite speculative position, not a core holding.

Quick facts

Can an Indian resident buy it?	Yes — fully legal under the LRS
Ticker / exchange	LUNR / NASDAQ
How	IBKR, Rovia, INDmoney, or Vested
Minimum	A fraction of one share
Dividend	None
India tax on gains	12.5% LTCG after 24 months; else your slab (Section 112)
Estate-tax risk	US-situs above $60k → up to 40%, no treaty relief
Annual compliance	Schedule FA every year you hold

How to buy it — 3 steps

1. Open an account and finish KYC. Use IBKR for the widest access and best execution, Rovia for a combined RSU + LRS experience, or INDmoney / Vested for a simple India-funded flow.
2. Fund via the LRS. Cap: $250,000/year. 20% TCS above ₹7 lakh — tax credit, not a permanent cost.
3. Place the order. LUNR is volatile around mission launch and landing events. If a CLPS mission is imminent, the stock typically rallies ahead of launch and then moves sharply on landing success or failure. Avoid initiating a full position immediately before a mission event.

What Intuitive Machines actually is

Intuitive Machines provides lunar surface access services under NASA's CLPS (Commercial Lunar Payload Services) program. NASA pays a fixed price to have Intuitive Machines deliver scientific and technology demonstration payloads to the lunar surface — NASA outsources the logistics and engineering; Intuitive Machines owns the lander design, manufacture, and mission execution.

IM-1 (Odysseus, February 2024): First private company to successfully land on the Moon, and the first US lunar landing since Apollo 17 in 1972. Landed at Malapert A crater near the lunar south pole. The lander tipped on its side on touchdown, limiting some payload operations — but the mission was declared a success and NASA's payloads returned data.

IM-2 (Athena, late 2024): Carried a NASA drill payload designed to search for water ice at the lunar south pole — a critical resource for future Artemis human missions. More ambitious and technically challenging than IM-1.

IM-3 and beyond: Multiple missions in backlog. Total backlog: $339 million as of Q1 2026, providing near-term revenue visibility.

Near-Space Network: Intuitive Machines also operates a lunar relay satellite constellation — a commercial "GPS and comms" layer for the Moon. As more landers, rovers, and eventually astronauts operate on the lunar surface, they'll need communications relay. This is a recurring-revenue business model layered on top of the mission delivery business.

Q1 2026 revenue: $75.5 million (+85% YoY). Still loss-making — heavy investment in manufacturing and mission preparation.

The tax that actually matters

No dividend means a clean capital-gains picture:

Holding period	Treatment	Rate
24 months or less	Short-term	Your slab rate
More than 24 months	Long-term	12.5%, no indexation

Full rules: how US stocks are taxed in India.

The $60,000 estate-tax trap

Directly-held LUNR is a US-situs asset. Above $60,000 of total US-situs holdings at death, US estate tax of up to 40% applies — no India-US treaty protection. See the estate-tax trap guide.

Buy LUNR, or get space exposure another way?

If you want…	Best route
Pure lunar surface services bet (binary mission risk)	LUNR directly (small satellite position)
Space infrastructure with less binary risk	RKLB (Rocket Lab) — operational launch + spacecraft bus
Stable space cash flows	IRDM (Iridium) — DoD contracts + dividend
Full new-space picture	Space stocks guide for Indian investors