NASA awarded the Jeff Bezos-owned firm Blue Origin the opportunity to build the second Artemis moon lander, a spacecraft that would transport astronauts to the lunar surface.
After Elon Musk's SpaceX lands the first crewed lunar landing, the second lunar lander seeks to fly astronauts to the moon's surface in 2029.
NASA Awards Jeff Bezos' Blue Origin To Develop Second Moon Lander
VAN HORN, TEXAS - JULY 20: Jeff Bezos laughs as he speaks about his flight on Blue Origin’s New Shepard into space during a press conference on July 20, 2021 in Van Horn, Texas. Mr. Bezos and the crew that flew with him were the first human spaceflight for the company.
According to Aljazeera, NASA has officially selected Bezos-led Blue Origin to develop the highly anticipated second moon lander. The news comes as a thrilling milestone in space exploration, marking a significant partnership between the aerospace company and the United States space agency
The Blue Origin lunar landing contract, costs $3.4 billion to fund the spacecraft development to transport astronauts to the moon. The partnership aims to enable astronauts to land safely on the moon's surface, opening up a new scientific research and discovery realm. According to Associated Press News, the Artemis program seeks to land humans on the moon several decades after the last Apollo mission in 1972.
NASA Administrator Bill Nelson says, "We are in a golden age of human spaceflight, which is made possible by NASA's commercial and international partnerships." He notes that the collaboration seeks to pave the way for investments and infrastructure needed to land the first astronauts on the rocky surface of Mars.
The Amazon billionaire Bezos reacted to the latest milestone of his aerospace giant. He took to Twitter to say he is "honored to be on this journey with @NASA to land astronauts on the Moon - this time to stay."
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Blue Origin vs. NASA
WASHINGTON, DC - MAY 09: Jeff Bezos, owner of Blue Origin, introduces a new lunar landing module called Blue Moon during an event at the Washington Convention Center, May 9, 2019 in Washington, DC. Bezos said the module will be used to land humans the moon once again.
Roughly two years ago, Blue Origin and the prestige space agency figured in a heated feud. The Bezos-led firm brought NASA to court after awarding Musk's SpaceX a contract for the first-ever lunar landing in the Artemis Program.
Tech Times reports that the lawsuit has delayed the development of the first moon lander project several times. The months-long delays gave a nod to the protest of Blue Origin to suspend the SpaceX contract. NASA then voluntarily halted the construction of the lunar lander amidst the litigation of the federal court.
But despite the dispute, a federal judge ruled in favor of NASA, validating its decision to award the contract to SpaceX worth $3 billion in 2021. Thus, the Musk-owned firm is still set to transport the first crewed flight of the Artemis project.
With the latest contract awarding, the Bezo-led Blue Origin is set to develop the second moon lander, which could bring astronauts to the lunar surface after the first flight led by SpaceX.
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