NASA intends to award Blue Origin and SpaceX additional work under their existing contracts to develop landers that will carry large pieces of equipment and infrastructure to the lunar surface, it said Wednesday (Nov. 20). the agency.
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| Jupiter’s moon Europa, photographed by NASA’s Galileo probe in the late 1990s. |
| Photo d’archives : AFP/VNA/CVN |
NASA plans to award demonstration missions to current human landing system providers, SpaceX and Blue Origin, to evolve designs for their large cargo landers after successfully passing design certification reviews.
The assignment of these missions builds on NASA’s request in 2023 for the two companies to develop cargo versions of their crewed human landing systems.
“The Artemis campaign is a collaborative effort with international and industry partners. Having two lunar lander providers with different approaches to crew and cargo landing capability provides mission flexibility while ensuring a steady cadence of moon landings for discovery continues and scientific opportunities” said Stephen D. Creech, Deputy Assistant Administrator for Technical Affairs of the Moon-Mars Program Office.
NASA plans at least two delivery missions with a large payload. The agency expects SpaceX’s Starship lander to deliver a pressurized rover to the lunar surface no earlier than fiscal year 2032, in support of Artemis VII and subsequent missions.
NASA expects Blue Origin to deliver a habitat on the lunar surface no earlier than fiscal year 2033.
Xinhua/VNA/CVN
