NASA grants SpaceX a hefty contract for its next mission to the moon

NASA is preparing to send astronauts to further explore the Moon as part of the Artemis program, and the agency has selected SpaceX to continue development of the first commercial human lander that will safely transport America’s next two astronauts to the lunar surface.

SpaceX beat two competitors for the $ 2.9 billion contract to develop a human landing system in this first round of funding. Elon Musk’s company will own and operate Starship on several demonstration missions with support from NASA.

“NASA has selected Starship to land the first astronauts on the lunar surface from the Apollo program! We are honored to help @NASAArtemis usher in a new era of human space exploration ”, SpaceX tweeted.

NASA Acting Administrator Steve Jurczyk announced on Friday at the Kennedy Space Center runway moments after the arrival of the four astronauts from the Crew-2 mission that the agency “Would have an important announcement regarding the human landing system, HLS”.

“We believe that turning to the moon is strategically important with many rewards and benefits, and we should complete the next landing as soon as possible.”, did he declare.

The human landing system is a key part of NASA’s Artemis program that is expected to bring astronauts back to the lunar surface from 2024.

NASA solicited proposals for human lunar landing systems from US companies and by the November 2019 deadline all the big names in space had thrown their helmets in the ring, including Boeing, Blue Origin, SpaceX and Dynetics.

“As the first human lunar lander in 50 years, this innovative human landing system will be a mark in the history of space exploration,” said Lisa Watson-Morgan, head of NASA’s HLS program.

According to the NASA schedule, the agency still plans to land the first woman and the next man on the moon by 2024, but NASA human spaceflight manager Kathy Lueders said security does not would not be compromised to achieve this goal.