Key Takeaways
- NASA plans to award Blue Origin and SpaceX additional work to develop cargo landers for the moon.
- The lunar lander will deliver large pieces of equipment and infrastructure to the lunar surface, supporting the Artemis program.
- Blue Origin will deliver a lunar surface habitat no earlier than fiscal year 2033, while SpaceX’s Starship cargo lander will deliver a pressurized rover no earlier than fiscal year 2032.
Los Angeles: NASA intends to award Blue Origin and SpaceX additional work under their existing contracts to develop landers that will deliver large pieces of equipment and infrastructure to the lunar surface, the agency said on Wednesday.
NASA will assign demonstration missions to SpaceX and Blue Origin to mature their large cargo lander designs. This follows successful design certification reviews, ensuring the landers are ready for lunar missions.
The assignment of these missions builds on the 2023 request by NASA for the two companies to develop cargo versions of their crewed human landing systems.
“The Artemis campaign is a collaborative effort with international and industry partners. Having two lunar lander providers with different approaches for crew and cargo landing capability provides mission flexibility while ensuring a regular cadence of moon landings for continued discovery and scientific opportunity,” said Stephen D. Creech, assistant deputy associate administrator for technical, Moon to Mars Program Office.
NASA plans for at least two delivery missions with large cargo. The agency intends for SpaceX’s Starship cargo lander to deliver a pressurized rover to the lunar surface no earlier than fiscal year 2032 in support of Artemis VII and later missions.
NASA expects Blue Origin to deliver a lunar surface habitat no earlier than fiscal year 2033.
