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Science & Technology
NASA Picks SpaceX, Blue Origin and More to Join Private Moon Lander Project
2019-11-19
[Space.com] NASA has recruited SpaceX's Starship, Blue Origin's Blue Moon and three other commercial lunar lander ideas to join its Artemis moon program.

Today (Nov. 18), NASA announced the selection of SpaceX, Blue Origin, Sierra Nevada Corp., Ceres Robotics and Tyvak Nano-Satellite Systems, Inc. to join its Commercial Lunar Payload Services program (CLPS). The five companies can now vie to deliver robotic payloads to the lunar surface for NASA, helping to pave the way for the return of astronauts to the moon by 2024.

"American aerospace companies of all sizes are joining the Artemis program," NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine said in a statement. "Expanding the group of companies who are eligible to bid on sending payloads to the moon's surface drives innovation and reduces costs to NASA and American taxpayers. We anticipate opportunities to deliver a wide range of science and technology payloads to help make our vision for lunar exploration a reality and advance our goal of sending humans to explore Mars."

The five companies join nine others selected by CLPS in November 2018, bringing the total number of private moon lander hopefuls to 14 firms.

The newly selected five are:

  • Blue Origin, Kent, Washington
  • Ceres Robotics, Palo Alto, California
  • Sierra Nevada Corporation, Louisville, Colorado
  • SpaceX, Hawthorne, California
  • Tyvak Nano-Satellite Systems Inc., Irvine, California
    • Posted by:DarthVader

    #3  Since they can't do it.
    Posted by: Skidmark   2019-11-19 20:45  

    #2  Lower half of StarShip 2nd stage starting cryogenic pressurization testing today.
    Posted by: 3dc   2019-11-19 11:03  

    #1   SpaceNews has a long article on this.

    The largest lander, by far, of the new entrants is from SpaceX, which bid its Starship reusable launch vehicle. Gwynne Shotwell, president and chief operating officer of SpaceX, said that Starhip will be able to deliver up to 100 metric tons of cargo to the surface of the moon and return an unspecified amount back to Earth.

    “We do think this is a really neat program. It reminds us a bit of the COTS program,” said Shotwell, referring to NASA’s Commercial Orbital Transportation Services effort that funded the development of SpaceX’s commercial cargo capability.

    Shotwell said Starship lunar lander missions could begin in 2022. Such missions would be cargo only, but she said could serve as a “nice stepping stone” to later crewed missions. She didn’t give a date for crewed missions, but said SpaceX would fly Starship “a lot” before flying any missions with people on board.
    Posted by: 3dc   2019-11-19 10:49  

    00:00