America wants to go back to the moon. NASA’s plans for this are already in the advanced stages. The first manned mission to the moon should already take place in 2025, as it is called the Artemis mission. However, due to various delays and complications, it is very uncertain whether that deadline will be met. For the Artemis mission, NASA has been working with SpaceX since 2021. Elon Musk’s space agency is developing a lunar lander based on the Starship spacecraft. NASA has now decided to look for the possible Replace⁇
Second lunar lander in 2026 or 2027
Yesterday, NASA officially called on aerospace companies to develop plans for a lunar lander that could carry people. Companies wishing to compete for the contract could offer a lunar lander in 2026 or 2027. At least it’s still an indicative deadline. A draft call is scheduled for release later this month, which will be made as a final call later this spring.
The bill, which more or less required NASA to select a second company to develop a lunar lander for Artemis, was introduced in October. However, that promise was not included in the 2022 budget. That said, it will receive the full $ 1.195 billion demanded by the space agency to build lunar landers. The final budget is expected to be approved in the coming weeks. In anticipation of this, NASA has already called on companies to develop plans for a second lunar lander.
One of the main reasons for creating the second lunar lander is that NASA, as originally planned, wants to have several alternatives to the moon.
Blue look
Among NASA’s original plans for new manned lunar spacecraft, many companies had already planned to build a lunar lander, but were not initially adequately budgeted for. In 2021, SpaceX was awarded a contract worth nearly $ 3 billion. Jeff Bezos’ rival Blue Origin, who built the spacecraft for the lunar lander, missed the result. It did not match Bezos and his blue appearance and then decided to protest against NASA’s choice.
The space agency Origin Bezos claims that NASA violates the law by awarding the contract to build the lunar lander to only one company. The tender states that NASA wants to outsource the contract to build the lunar lander to several suppliers. One of the most common of the large tenders to collaborate with suppliers. But that struggle did not work. Blue Origin later decided to go to court, but failed there as well. However, the Artemis project had to be suspended due to a legal issue, so it was further delayed.
Blue Origin has a good chance of competing again to create the lunar lander. After all, they are already well on their way. We hope that the hatred against NASA is not great, as Bezos missed the opportunity a second time.
