NASA has selected three U.S. companies to develop the lunar landers for its Artemis program, one of which will land the first woman and next man on the moon by 2024.
Blue Origin of Kent, Washington; Dynetics in Huntsville, Alabama; and SpaceX of Hawthorne, California, have been awarded contracts worth more than $900 million.
President Donald Trump has set 2024 as a deadline for the U.S. to return to the moon with manned missions.
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Blue Origin is developing a three-stage lander to be launched on its own New Glenn Rocket System, while Dynetics is developing a single structure for ascent and descent. SpaceX is building the Starship, a lander that will use the SpaceX Super Heavy rocket.
“With these contract awards, America is moving forward with the final step needed to land astronauts on the moon by 2024, including the incredible moment when we will see the first woman set foot on the lunar surface,” said NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine. “This is the first time since the Apollo era that NASA has direct funding for a human landing system, and now we have companies on contract to do the work for the Artemis program.”
The companies will refine their lander concepts through February 2021, with NASA following their demonstration missions. NASA will then work with the companies building the next human landing systems.
Also part of NASA’s deep space exploration plans are the Space Launch System rocket, the Orion spacecraft and Gateway.
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