Clarification to the title: the spacecraft was developed by a private company, but it was publicly funded by way of NASA, as part of their Commercial Lunar Payload Services (CLPS) program: https://www.nasa.gov/commercial-lunar-payload-services/
NASA wholly owned and operated the lunar lander after it was built. Intuitive Machines owns and is operating the machines it built for NASA and can use the technology for other customers.
It’s about as ‘private’ as the F-22.
As a one way trip paid for by NASA, this is simply a NASA mission.
There have been times in my career when my only client was the federal government. That did not make me a public servant. I wasn't at DARPA, I was a private contractor with DARPA. I assure you everyone involved is crystal-clear on the distinction.
This is a day to celebrate. This is a momentous achievement and I can’t wait to see private space scale to its potential — which is ginormous.
Misconceptions like this are precisely why I find it important to call out where the funds are coming from here... because the potential really isn't enormous.
There's a lot of commercial interest in putting satellites in orbit, yes. But there's no commercial interest in private moon landers. And I'm not saying that's a bad thing; I'm happy to see NASA find ways make their scientific endeavors more efficient. But moonshots (heh) like this are never going to be motivated by economics. There's just nothing on the moon to sell.
Also, Intuitive Machines is a public company with non government investors.