[ad_1]
NASA selected space firms SpaceX, Blue Origin and Dynetics on Thursday to build lunar landing systems that can take astronauts to the moon by 2024, the accelerated deadline for the White House under the campaign of the space agency of the Moon to Mars.
The three companies, which include tech billionaire firms Elon Musk and Jeff Bezos, will share $ 967 million from NASA.
Details on the specific amounts each company will receive were not immediately known.
Boeing Co (BA.N), a NASA contractor and one of the companies that bid for this contract, was not selected.
Unlike the Apollo program that put astronauts on the moon 50 years ago, NASA is preparing for a long-term presence on Earth’s satellite that the agency says will eventually allow humans to reach Mars.
The upcoming manned mission to the moon will require major advances in robotic technologies and a plan for NASA to work with the three companies to design and develop human landing systems.
“We are following the president’s space policy directive,” said NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine, calling the selection “historic.”
Choosing three providers allows NASA to have redundancy should a company fall behind in development, Lisa Watson-Morgan, manager of NASA’s human landing system program, told reporters.
Last year, Bezos unveiled Blue Origin’s design for the lunar lander, Blue Moon, which it plans to build as a prime contractor with Lockheed Martin (LMT.N), Northrop Grumman (NOC.N), and Draper. Blue Origin plans to launch its landing system using its own heavy-duty rocket, New Glenn.
Musk’s SpaceX, which is about to launch its first manned mission for NASA next month, will develop its Starship landing system to send crew and up to 100 pounds of cargo to the moon.
Dynetics, a recently acquired space firm by Leidos Holdings Inc (LDOS.N), will manage a team of 25 partners to develop its human landing system that the Boeing-Lockheed joint venture, United Launch Alliance, will launch on its Vulcan launch system.
