During that time, the agency will evaluate which of the contractors will perform initial demonstration missions. SpaceX's Starship lander is poised to conduct the first two astronaut Moon landings, followed by a similar mission in 2029 with Blue Origin's lander.Įach is expected to put two astronauts on the Moon's surface.įriday's announcement was a long-awaited outcome for Mr Bezos, who has invested billions of dollars for Blue Origin to vie for high-profile space awards with SpaceX, a dominant force in satellite launches and human spaceflight.īlue Origin and Dynetics lost to SpaceX in 2021, with NASA primarily blaming budget constraints for going with only one company.Īfter losing that competition, Blue Origin unsuccessfully sought to overturn NASA's decision, first with a watchdog agency and then in court. NASA’s commercial partners will refine their lander concepts through the contract base period ending in February 2021. The contract modification allows SpaceX to develop an. The Artemis program envisions building a long-term presence on the Moon. NASA has awarded SpaceX a contract option worth 1.15 billion for a second Artemis moon landing. The Dynetics-led bid raised NASA concerns over whether it met technical requirements, and the price was "substantially higher", the contract document said. This still from an animation shows Blue Origin's Blue Moon lander on the lunar surface. NASA said in a contract document that it picked Blue Origin's proposal for its lower price, extra lander capabilities and a plan to execute two test landing missions on the Moon in 20 at the company's expense.īut NASA expressed concern about "numerous conflicts and omissions" in Blue Origin's proposed schedule and development deadlines. SpaceX’s 3 billion contract to build a lunar lander for NASA was temporarily halted on August 19th after Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin filed a lawsuit over the award, court documents show. It's the second Artemis crew lander after SpaceX's Starship, which was selected in 2021. NASA 893 In an extraordinary announcement on Friday, NASA said that it has selected SpaceX and its Starship vehicle to serve as the lunar lander for its Artemis Program.
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