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NASA is turning to private industry for the first astronaut lunar landers in half a century, with three competing and highly contrasting versions.
Jim Bridenstine administrator announced on Thursday the three companies that will develop, build, and fly lunar landers, aiming to return astronauts to the moon in 2024 and finally to Mars.
The companies are SpaceX in Hawthorne, California, led by Elon Musk; Blue Origin in Kent, Washington, founded by Jeff Bezos of Amazon; and Dynetics, a subsidiary of Leidos in Huntsville, Alabama. In total, contracts for the initial 10-month period total $ 967 million.
“This is the last piece we need to get to the moon” by 2024, said Mr. Bridenstine.
He noted that it will be the first lunar lander since the last Apollo moon mission in 1972.
Over the next 10 months, each company will refine its concept and NASA will decide which lander to test first.
Bridenstine said NASA will go with the company that has the highest probability of success by 2024.
NASA will rely on its own Orion capsules and the mega-rockets of the space launch system, still in development, to launch astronauts to the moon.
The other two companies, Boeing and Vivace, submitted offers but were eliminated from the start, leaving all three contracts awarded.
SpaceX’s proposed space landing vehicle is so high that astronauts will use an elevator to get to and from the lunar surface.
The Blue Origin version comes with a grand staircase, according to artistic renderings. Dynetics’ lander is so close to the ground that it only takes a few steps, like a front porch, a feature that NASA has given high safety and efficiency ratings.
SpaceX is using its own Starship spacecraft, still in development in Texas, and its own rockets. Blue Origin and Dynetics are partnering with numerous subcontractors, including commercial launch companies.
Commercialization, Bridenstine said, will reduce costs and increase access.
It is based on NASA’s commercial cargo and crew programs for the International Space Station.
Just last November, SpaceX and Blue Origin were among the companies that won contracts to make cargo deliveries to the moon.
NASA wants Artemis’ new moon landing program to be sustainable, unlike Apollo, with multiple missions and multiple locations on the lunar surface.
While only one company will carry the first woman and the next man to the lunar surface, all three will participate in the long term, authorities said.
By learning to live and work in another world, the moon, NASA will be better equipped to send astronauts to Mars, Bridenstine said.
PA Media
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