“Blue Origin Awarded $3.4B Contract to Build Lunar Lander for Artemis 5 Mission”

WASHINGTON – Blue Origin was selected to build the Blue Moon lunar lander rocket system in the Artemis program. Jeff Bezos’ company has been awarded a $3.4 billion contract to build a Human Landing System (HLS) system to send astronauts to moon .

A Blue Origin representative said the lander, called Blue Moon, would be ready for the planned Artemis 5 landing mission in 2029, after a test launch and touchdown. The Blue Moon lander will launch by rocket and dock at Gateway, a NASA-led outpost on the Moon.

“We will test the complete lander system and complete architecture approximately one year in advance. Once all goes well, it can be used to launch astronauts to the Moon,” said John Couluris, Vice President of Blue Origin for Lunar Transport, in a press conference quoted by SINDOnews from the Space page, Saturday (20/5/2023).

NASA said that the Blue Moon made by Blue Origin will provide a second option for landing astronauts on the moon. Previously, NASA had appointed SpaceX’s Starship spacecraft to be selected in 2021.

“The different additional landers will help ensure that we have the necessary equipment for a series of landings on the lunar surface. This lander is useful for carrying out scientific and technological developments, “said NASA Administrator Bill Nelson.

With the Starship lander, the astronauts will launch separately aboard NASA’s Space Launch System rocket on the Orion spacecraft. After docking with the Gateway, the two astronauts will move to Blue Moon to travel to the moon’s south pole in about a week.

SpaceX’s Starship system will be used in Mission Artemis 3 to land near the moon’s south pole. The launch is scheduled no earlier than 2025, depending on the progress of the ongoing Starship development.

SpaceX was also assigned to land astronauts on the Artemis 4 mission. Meanwhile, Blue Origin will use the Blue Moon lander system for the Artemis 4 mission.

In its 2021 report, the Senate noted that NASA’s Human Launch System program is not short on funding. NASA’s $24.83 billion budget in the fiscal year was slightly more than the $24.8 billion NASA was asking for, most of the increase going to the HLS consortium.

(wib)