Robert Besser
23 May 2023, 20:40 GMT+10
WASHINGTON, D.C.: Offering NASA a second option for sending astronauts to the moon, a team led by Jeff Bezos' Blue Origin has won a coveted $3.4 billion NASA contract to build a spacecraft to fly astronauts to and from the moon's surface.
Blue Origin plans to build its 52-foot tall Blue Moon lander in partnership with Lockheed Martin Corp, Boeing Co, software firm Draper and robotics firm Astrobotic. NASA picked Blue Origin over a rival bid led by Leidos Inc-owned defense contractor Dynetics, which also included Northrop Grumman Corp.
NASA awarded fellow billionaire Musk's SpaceX $3 billion in 2021 to build its Starship spacecraft to land astronauts on the lunar surface for the first time since the final Apollo mission in 1972.
"I've said it before: we want more competition, we want two landers, and that's better," NASA Administrator Bill Nelson said at an event announcing the contract at NASA's headquarters. "It means that you have reliability, you have backups."
The contract follows NASA's trend in recent years in which it helps fund development of private astronaut spacecraft, then pays to use the craft in missions, rather than spending more to own the vehicle entirely.
"Honored to be on this journey with @NASA to land astronauts on the Moon - this time to stay," Amazon.com billionaire founder Bezos said on Twitter after the announcement.
NASA said in a contract document that it picked Blue Origin's proposal for its lower price, extra lander capabilities and a plan to execute two test landing missions on the moon in 2024 and 2025 at the company's expense. However, NASA expressed concern about "numerous conflicts and omissions" in Blue Origin's proposed schedule and development deadlines.
Get a daily dose of Paris Guardian news through our daily email, its complimentary and keeps you fully up to date with world and business news as well.
Publish news of your business, community or sports group, personnel appointments, major event and more by submitting a news release to Paris Guardian.
More InformationDHAKA, Bangladesh - The Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) has filed a case against 13 members of Grameen Telecom's board of directors, ...
WASHINGTON D.C.: The U.S. Commerce Department has said that trade ministers from 14 countries have taken part in the US-led ...
LOUISVILLE, Kentucky: Two horses that succumbed to their injuries at Churchill Downs have become the 11th and 12th fatalities over ...
FREMONT, California: Brain implant company Neuralink announced that it has received approval from US regulators to begin human brain implant ...
JEFFERSONVILLE, Indiana: Randy Lankford, owner of Lankford Funeral Home and Family Center in Jeffersonville, Indiana, has pleaded guilty to more ...
DENVER, COLORADO: A federal judge has ruled that a rural Colorado school district can ban a high school student from ...
BURBANK, California: Over the US Memorial Day weekend, Disney's live-action remake of its 1989 animated classic, "The Little Mermaid," brought ...
NEW YORK CITY, New York: The Nielsen company said that CBS has again claimed the title of most-watched television network ...
NEW YORK, New York - U.S. and global stocks tumbled Wednesday as lawmakers continued to navigate their way through Congress ...
PORTLAND, Maine: Fishermen in the US's only commercial-scale fishing industry for valuable baby eels, called elvers, have recorded a productive ...
LAS VEGAS, Nevada: A bill was introduced in the Nevada Legislature to provide the Oakland Athletics up to $380 million ...
WASHINGTON D.C.: Due to one of the tightest labor markets in decades, teenagers, who have been vital for filling summer ...