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Miami. The US space agency NASA announced on Friday that it has awarded a contract for SpaceX $ 2,890 million to take astronauts back to the moon in 2024 given that the company “has everything they need” for their monthly missions.
NASA said at a news conference that it had chosen the one that best suited the needs of the Artemis program, its monthly strategy, the federal government budget and landing safety.
The contract for the so-called Human Landing System (HLS) of the Artemis Program also aspires to Blue Origin, the aerospace company of Jeff Bezos, president of Amazon and considered the richest man in the world.
The HLS contract provides for a monthly launch and landing “as early as 2024”.
The offer from SpaceX founder Elon Musk thus surpassed that of Dynetics and also that of Bezos, who had partnered with Lockheed Martin Corp., Northrop Grumman Corp. and Draper.
Musk’s company will thus be tasked with further developing the first commercial lander that will safely transport the next two American astronauts to the lunar surface.
At least one of those astronauts will make history as the first woman on the moon.
The agency’s Space Launch System rocket will launch a total of four astronauts aboard the Orion spacecraft for its multi-day trip into lunar orbit.
There, two of them will be transferred to SpaceX’s Human Landing System (HLS) for the final leg of their journey to the moon’s surface.
After about a week of exploring the surface, they will ascend the lander for their short journey back into orbit, where they will return to Orion before returning to Earth.
“This critical step puts humanity on the path to sustainable lunar exploration and looks at missions further in the solar system, including Mars,” said Kathy Lueders, head of NASA’s equipped missions.
Unlike the Apollo lunar landing, more than 50 years ago, NASA is preparing for a long-term presence on this Earth satellite.
This presence will allow people to reach Mars with the help of the private sector.
“During the Apollo program, we demonstrated that it is possible to do what seems impossible: take humans to the moon,” said Lisa Watson-Morgan, HLS program manager at NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama.
He added that due to the new collaborative approach, “we will once again return American astronauts to the surface of the Moon, this time to explore new areas for longer periods of time.”
SpaceX’s HLS spacecraft, designed to land on the moon, is based on the company’s proven Raptor engines and the flying heritage of Falcon and Dragon vehicles, NASA said.