BERLIN — NASA plans to use cargo versions of Artemis lunar landers under development by Blue Origin and SpaceX to deliver a pressurized rover and su

NASA to make lunar cargo delivery awards to Blue Origin and SpaceX

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2024-11-25 10:30:07

BERLIN — NASA plans to use cargo versions of Artemis lunar landers under development by Blue Origin and SpaceX to deliver a pressurized rover and surface habitat to the lunar surface in the early 2030s.

NASA announced it will add work to existing contracts for development of cargo versions of Blue Origin’s Blue Moon and SpaceX’s Starship to deliver payloads to the surface of the moon, the first such awards since the agency announced in January that it was directing the two companies to work on cargo versions of their Human Landing System (HLS) spacecraft.

NASA said Starship will deliver no earlier than fiscal year 2032 the pressurized rover that the Japanese space agency JAXA is developing under an agreement announced in April. Blue Moon will deliver a lunar surface habitat no sooner than fiscal year 2033.

“Based on current design and development progress for both crew and cargo landers and the Artemis mission schedules for the crew lander versions, NASA assigned a pressurized rover mission for SpaceX and a lunar habitat delivery for Blue Origin,” Lisa Watson-Morgan, NASA HLS program manager, said in a Nov. 19 statement.