(Reuters) - NASA has awarded Intuitive Machines ( LUNR ) a $116.9 million contract to deliver six science and technology payloads to the Moon's south pole, the space exploration company said, sending its shares up 16% after the bell.

This marks Intuitive's fourth such contract award, as part of NASA's Commercial Lunar Payload Services initiative to deliver payloads and return valuable data while autonomously operating on the surface of the Moon, the company said.

The Texas-based company is in the final assembly phase of its second lunar mission, which is scheduled to deliver the completed lander to the launch facility later this year.

(Reporting by Aatreyee Dasgupta in Bengaluru; Editing by Arun Koyyur)