Washington [US], May 20 : US federal space agency NASA has selected Jeff Bezos's company Blue Origin to construct a spacecraft that will send astronauts to and from the surface of the moon, winning a contract valued at about USD 3.4 billion, according to a statement from the space agency.
NASA said Blue Origin will design, develop, test, and verify its Blue Moon lander to meet NASA's human landing system requirements for recurring astronaut expeditions to the lunar surface, including docking with Gateway, a space station where crew transfer in lunar orbit.
In addition to design and development work, the contract includes one uncrewed demonstration mission to the lunar surface before a crewed demo on the Artemis V mission in 2029, according to the statement.
"Today we are excited to announce Blue Origin will build a human landing system as NASA's second provider to deliver Artemis astronauts to the lunar surface," NASA Administrator Bill Nelson said in the statement.
"We are in a golden age of human spaceflight, which is made possible by NASA's commercial and international partnerships. Together, we are making an investment in the infrastructure that will pave the way to land the first astronauts on Mars."
The announcement came as a handful of private companies, such as Elon Musk's Space X and Bezos's Blue Origin, pushed for a greater role in space activities and compete for lucrative government contracts.
The agency previously contracted SpaceX to demonstrate an initial human landing system for the Artemis III mission. Under that contract, the agency also directed SpaceX to evolve its design to meet the agency's requirements for sustainable exploration and to demonstrate the lander on Artemis IV.
As a result of the contract with Blue Origin to demonstrate on Artemis V a lander that meets these same sustainable lander requirements, including capabilities for increased crew size, longer mission duration, and delivery of more mass to the Moon, multiple providers will be available to compete for future opportunities to fulfill NASA's lunar surface access needs for Artemis missions.
The agency also said, "Through Artemis, NASA will send astronauts - including the first woman and first person of colour - to explore the Moon for scientific discovery, economic benefits, and to build the foundation for crewed missions to Mars. Together, the SLS rocket, Orion, Gateway, advanced spacesuits, and human landing systems are NASA's foundation for deep space exploration."
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