ILLUSTRATION. SpaceX owner and Tesla CEO Elon Musk wins a contract to build a spacecraft to the Moon from NASA
Source: Reuters | Editor: Anna Suci Perwitasari
KABARIN.CO.ID – WASHINGTON. Elon Musk won a contract to build a spacecraft to be used to the moon from NASA. Friday (16/4), NASA announced that the contract value reached US $ 2.9 billion.
With this success, Musk managed to get rid of rivals for the contract namely Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin and defense contractor Dynetics Inc.
Bezos and Musk, who are the first and third richest people in the world according to Forbes, are competing to lead the human movement back to the moon for the first time since 1972.
Musk made a SpaceX bid, while Amazon.com founder Bezos’s Blue Origin partnered with Lockheed Martin Corp, Northrop Grumman Corp and Draper. Meanwhile, Dynetics is a unit of Leidos Holdings Inc.
“NASA Rules !!” Musk wrote on Twitter following the announcement.
The US space agency awarded contracts for the first commercial human lander, part of the Artemis program. NASA explained that the lander would bring two US astronauts to the lunar surface in early 2024.
“We must complete the next landing as quickly as possible,” said Steve Jurczyk, acting NASA administrator, in a videoconference announcement.
“If they reach their milestone, we have a chance in 2024,” added Jurczyk.
NASA says SpaceX’s Starship includes a spacious cabin and two air locks for astronauts to walk on the moon and its architecture is intended to develop into a fully reusable launch and landing system designed for travel to the Moon, Mars, and other purposes in space.
SpaceX also responded on Twitter, writing, “We are humbly helping @NASAArtemis usher in a new era of human space exploration.”
Unlike the Apollo landings from 1969 to 1972 – the only human visit to the lunar surface – NASA is gearing up to make a long-term visit to the moon which it envisions as a stepping stone to an even more ambitious plan to send astronauts to Mars.
NASA relies heavily on private companies built with a shared vision for space exploration.
SpaceX will be asked to conduct a landing test to the moon before humans travel, NASA office Lisa Watson-Morgan told reporters.
Source: Reuters
Editor: Anna Suci Perwitasari
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