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NASA Awards $590 Million for Four Lunar Delivery Missions to Three Companies
NASA will pay three companies to deliver cargo to the moon under Phase 1 of its lunar settlement plans. The contracts cover four missions and form part of a $10 billion effort expected to run through 2028. Cnn reported the announcement on Tuesday.
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NASA will pay about $590 million to Astrobotic, Firefly and Intuitive Machines for four missions to deliver science instruments and cargo to the moon, Cnn reported. The agency is also considering repurposing the Mars rover nicknamed Promise for lunar use.
Carlos García-Galán, NASA’s program executive for the moon base, described the contracts as Phase 1 of a plan to build a permanent lunar settlement. Phase 1 is expected to last through 2028 and cost about $10 billion. NASA announced other Phase 1 deals last month that renamed three previously contracted missions as Moon Base specific.
In May the agency awarded additional contracts worth over $1 billion for lunar buggies and three or four drones. Phases 2 and 3 include building the first pressurized habitats and installing power generators on the moon in the 2030s. Blue Origin was scheduled to deliver its Blue Moon robotic lander prototype to the lunar south pole later this year.
In May one of Blue Origin’s rockets exploded on the launchpad. On Tuesday García-Galán stated NASA is looking at other options for the Blue Moon lander if Blue Origin’s timeline slips. The lunar south pole is believed to contain stores of water ice.
