NASA has selected Blue Origin to create a second lunar landing system for the Artemis program to compete with SpaceX and support long-term moon exploration.
Lockheed Martin, Draper, Boeing, Astrobotic, and Honeybee Robotics won.
The award covers uncrewed and crewed demonstration landings. This vehicle and Starship will transport astronauts from the lunar surface to NASA’s “Gateway” space station to establish a permanent human presence on the moon.
Under this award, the Blue Origin-led team will develop the Artemis V landing system. SpaceX will launch Artemis III and IV.
In April 2021, NASA awarded SpaceX $2.9 billion to construct a Starship human landing device. Blue Origin and Dynetics protested the agency’s choice of a single vendor with a prominent government watchdog. Protests were ignored.
NASA said last March that it would open competition for a second landing system under pressure from Congress and others. SpaceX was ineligible for this contract. It and its team can compete for future crewed lunar missions after Artemis V.
NASA’s Artemis program is ambitious. The agency plans to send astronauts to the moon 30 days a month.
“second lander and additional, different lander will help ensure that we have the hardware necessary for a series of missions to carry out the science and technology development on the surface of the moon,” NASA Administrator Bill Nelson said at a news conference.
