NASA is getting ready to send astronauts to explore more of the Moon as part of the Artemis program, and the agency has selected SpaceX to continue development of the
SpaceX has won yet another significant human space exploration contract with
NASA. This time, the company was awarded the sole, firm-fixed price $2.89 billion milestone-based Artemis program contract to send astronauts to the Moon on the SpaceX Starship rocket and to continue development of the first commercial human lunar lander. NASA announced the award on April 16.
The California-based, Elon Musk-founded launch company beat out rivals
Blue Origin and
Dynetics for the massive award. The three companies received nearly $1 billion in April 2020 to design and develop Human Landing Systems (HLS) for the Artemis program over a 10-month period.
The award was made under the Next Space Technologies for Exploration Partnerships (NextSTEP-2) Appendix H Broad Agency Announcement (BAA). NASA said it intends to implement another competitive procurement for sustainable crewed lunar surface transportation services.
Illustration of SpaceX
Starship human lander design that will carry the first NASA astronauts to the surface of the Moon under the Artemis program. Photo Credit: SpaceX
In preparation to send astronauts to explore more of the moon as part of the Artemis lunar exploration program, NASA has selected SpaceX (Hawthorne, Calif., U.S.) to continue development of the first commercial human lander that will safely carry the next two American astronauts to the lunar surface in 2024. At least one of those astronauts will make history as the first woman on the moon. Another goal of the Artemis program includes landing the first person of color on the lunar surface. SpaceX was one U.S. company chosen out of the three including Dynetics (a Leidos company, Huntsville, Ala., U.S.) and Blue Origin (Kent, Wash., U.S.) originally selected in April 2020 to design and develop human landing system (HLS) concepts for the program.
Apr 19, 2021
NASA is getting ready to send astronauts to explore more of the Moon as part of the Artemis program, and has selected SpaceX to continue development of the first commercial human lander that will safely carry the next two astronauts to the lunar surface.
At least one of those astronauts will make history as the first woman on the Moon.
Another goal of the Artemis program includes landing the first person of colour on the lunar surface.
The agency’s powerful Space Launch System rocket will launch four astronauts aboard the Orion spacecraft for their multi-day journey to lunar orbit. There, two crew members will transfer to the SpaceX human landing system (HLS) for the final leg of their journey to the surface of the Moon.
As Artemis Moves Forward, NASA Picks SpaceX to Land Next Americans on Moon
NASA is getting ready to send astronauts to explore more of the Moon as part of the Artemis program, and the agency has selected SpaceX to continue development of the first commercial human lander that will safely carry the next two American astronauts to the lunar surface. At least one of those astronauts will make history as the first woman on the Moon. Another goal of the Artemis program includes landing the first person of color on the lunar surface.
The agency’s powerful Space Launch System rocket will launch four astronauts aboard the Orion spacecraft for their multi-day journey to lunar orbit. There, two crew members will transfer to the SpaceX human landing system (HLS) for the final leg of their journey to the surface of the Moon. After approximately a week exploring the surface, they will board the lander for their short trip bac