On Friday, NASA awarded a $ 2.9 billion contract to billionaire entrepreneur Elon Musk’s private space company SpaceX to bring astronauts to the moon in early 2024, handed over to Jeff Bezos’s Blue Origin and defence contractor Dynamics Inc. was given.
Musk’s bid to head Tesla Inc. defeated Amazon.com Inc. founder Jeff Bezos, who partnered with Lockheed Martin Corp., Northrop Grumman Corp. and Draper. Bezos also owns The Washington Post.
The US space agency announced the contract at a video conference as part of NASA’s Artemis program, the first commercial manned lander. NASA said the lander would take two American astronauts to the lunar surface.
“We should complete the next landing as soon as possible,” NASA acting administrator Steve Jurczyk said. “This is an incredible time to be involved in human exploration, for all humanity.”
“If they hit their milestones, we’ll have a shot in 2024,” Jurski said.
NASA said that humans would need a test flight to the moon before it could fly.
Officials Lisa Watson-Morgan told reporters, “Besides, NASA requires a test flight to fully test all systems with their landing on the lunar surface before our formal demonstration mission.”
NASA official Mark Kirish said the agency hopes to see all three companies that competed for early moon landings to provide recurring transportation to the moon.
“We should be able to provide for recurring lunar services,” said Kirasich, deputy associate administrator of NASA’s Advanced Exploration Systems Division, adding that NASA would work on a follow-up competition for “regularly recurring” missions.
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NASA’s announcement added an extraordinary run for Musk, one of the richest people globally, for a 22% stake in electric car manufacturer Tesla Inc.
Tesla has become the world’s most valuable automaker, with a market capitalization of $ 702 billion, far ahead of auto industry giants. Musk has become a one-person technology group launching or controlling space flight, electric cars, nerve implants and underground tunnel boring companies.
Associate Administrator Cathy Lieders of NASA’s Directorate of Human Exploration and Operations Mission said one factor of SpaceX’s choice was “what is the best value for the government”.
NASA said in a news release that SpaceX’s HLS starship is designed to land on the moon, “lying on the company’s tested Raptor engines and the flight legacy of Falcon and Dragon vehicles.” The starship includes a spacious cabin and two airlocks for the astronaut Moonwalk. Its architecture is to develop a fully reusable launch and landing system designed to travel to the Moon, Mars and other destinations in space.
NASA’s decision was a blow to Bezos, a lifelong space enthusiast and one of the richest people in the world, who is now focusing more on his space venture after announcing in February he will step down as Amazon CEO. Will leave
Bezos and other officials considered the contract important to Blue Origin and established itself as a desired partner for NASA and put the venture on the road to making a profit, Reuters reported in February.
SpaceX announced on Wednesday that it had raised approximately $ 1.16 billion in equity financing.
Musk outlined an ambitious agenda for SpaceX and its reusable rockets, including a human-crewed landing on Mars. But in the near term, SpaceX’s core business is launching Musk’s Starlink Internet venture and satellites for other satellites and space cargo.
Unlike the Apollo lunar landing from 1969 to 1972, NASA is now preparing for a long-term presence on the moon as it moves to an even more ambitious plan to send astronauts to reach Mars. NASA is overshadowing private companies built around a shared vision for space exploration.
An unknown SpaceX starship prototype rocket failed to land safely on March 30 after a test launch from Boca Chica, Texas. The starship was one of a series of heavy-lift rockets developed by SpaceX to carry humans that carried 100 tons of cargo to the Moon and Mars on future missions. The first orbital Starship flight is planned for the end of the year.
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