NASA has awarded Blue Origin a contract worth $2.9bn to develop a spacecraft for a manned mission to the Moon as part of its Artemis program. The mission aims to put astronauts back on the lunar surface by 2024. The contract covers the development of a human landing system that will transport crew and cargo to a part of the south pole of the Moon starting in 2024. The spacecraft will transport astronauts from the low-Earth orbit to the lunar orbit. NASA’s administrator, Bill Nelson, stated that the awarded contract is a clear indication of the agency entering a “golden age” of space exploration.
The winning team led by Jeff Bezos, founder of Blue Origin, includes Lockheed Martin, Boeing, Draper, Astrobotic, and Honeybee Robotics. The team is set to work together under the proposal that Blue Origin will design, develop and verify the Blue Moon lander, while its partners will help make the lander capable of recurring space travel requirements. The device will have high-gain antennas for communication, thermal radiators on the side for cooling, and a crew module at the base that can support up to four astronauts for 30 days. Overall, the Blue Moon lander will stand 16 meters tall and have a dry mass of 16 metric tons, which will increase to over 45 metric tons when fueled with liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen propellants.
The Blue Moon lander is designed for the lunar mission and forms part of NASA’s Artemis program. The Artemis program has a goal: to establish a human presence on the Moon, where NASA plans to establish a Moon base and train in preparation for future manned missions to Mars and beyond. The agency’s aim is to land a woman and a person of color on the lunar surface by 2024. The Blue Moon lander is not the only device that will make the Moon landing possible for NASA. SpaceX was likewise given a contract for the landing module. Blue Origin, however, faced rivals Dynetics and Leidos before they got the nod from NASA.
Bezos revealed that Blue Origin would waive up to $2bn in fees to bag the contract with NASA’s Blue Moon lander. The company aims to send both the lander and two of the payloads to the lunar surface, creating a surge in excitement and opportunity for space travel enthusiasts.
In the end, the Blue Origin contract award from NASA is a stepping stone towards humanity’s unlimited future in space travel. The Artemis program represents NASA’s exposure to new frontiers by pushing beyond the Moon to Mars, where humans can establish more extensive settlements and travel beyond the solar system. The contract represents NASA’s commitment to human space exploration and an eagerness to work with various stakeholders in the private sector to assist in achieving its ambitious space missions.
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