Blue Origin, the aerospace company founded by Jeff Bezos, is launching a new bid to win the construction of a lunar lander for NASA, after unsuccessfully challenging the first contract. awarded to SpaceX.
In this new instance, Blue Origin has presented a new proposal, developed in conjunction with five other companies: Boeing, Lockheed Martin, Draper, Astrobotic and Honeybee Robotics.
Blue Origin’s new offer to NASA, looking for a second chance to build its lander on the Moon
As part of the Artemis program, through which NASA and its partners seek to return astronauts to the lunar surface, the space agency formally announced earlier this year its intention to acquire a second lunar lander.
Blue Origin had previously tried to close a NASA contract for the first Human Landing System (HLS), but its application was not considered, losing to commercial rival SpaceX last year.
In August 2021, Blue Origin filed a lawsuit against NASA, criticizing its handling of the Human Landing System program, under which SpaceX was awarded construction of the first lander. Although finally, justice ruled against Blue Origin, this legal action suspended and later postponed the work of SpaceX, also delaying the date of the first manned mission of the program.
With the launch of its Orion capsule, NASA began in August of this year the implementation of its Artemis program, which is currently back from the Moon. This first mission, called Artemis 1, is a first attempt without a crew. Its next mission, Artemis 2, will replicate this dynamic with a crew of four astronauts. However, the intention to place astronauts on the lunar surface will not materialize until the execution of the Artemis 3 mission, scheduled to take place from 2025.
Although NASA is placing a lot of trust in SpaceX, the space agency seeks to make its project as viable as possible, which is why they are choosing to establish ties with more than one private partner.
The opportunity that opens up for Blue Origin under this context, seeks to be taken advantage of under the constitution of a “National Lunar Development Maintenance Team”, recently introduced as an instance that brings together the private aerospace company with the aforementioned partners, to build a lunar landing module for future NASA Artemis missions.
