NASA picks Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin for moon lander project

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. — Jeff Bezos’ company will be working with NASA to get astronauts to land on the moon.

In a news release, Blue Origin said that they, along with its national team partners, will work together to create and fly a lunar lander to land on the moon.

“Blue Origin and its partners are already at work and are excited to be on this journey with NASA,” the agency said.

NASA, in a news release, said the project is set to develop a human landing system for their Artemis V mission to the moon. Through this mission, the agency is looking to explore the moon more, discover some new things, and work on preparing for future missions to Mars.

We selected @BlueOrigin to develop the human landing system for the #Artemis V mission. This component for deep space transportation will help us in our goal of sending astronauts to the surface of the Moon and returning them home safely: https://t.co/KMq5fUn0ll pic.twitter.com/mpfUjWr6OX
— NASA (@NASA) May 19, 2023

“Today we are excited to announce Blue Origin will build a human landing system as NASA’s second provider to deliver Artemis astronauts to the lunar surface,” said NASA Administrator Bill Nelson in the news release. “We are in a golden age of human spaceflight, which is made possible by NASA’s commercial and international partnerships. Together, we are making an investment in the infrastructure that will pave the way to land the first astronauts on Mars.”

The contract is worth $3.4 billion and will allow Blue Origin to create a lunar lander called Blue Moon, according to The Associated Press. The lunar lander is expected to transport astronauts to the lunar surface in hopefully six years.

“Having two distinct lunar lander designs, with different approaches to how they meet NASA’s mission needs, provides more robustness and ensures a regular cadence of Moon landings,” Lisa Watson-Morgan, manager, Human Landing System Program at NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama, said in the news release. “This competitive approach drives innovation, brings down costs, and invests in commercial capabilities to grow the business opportunities that can serve other customers and foster a lunar economy.”

The news comes two years after Blue Origin reportedly sued after NASA gave SpaceX the first lunar landing contract, according to the AP. NASA’s decision was eventually upheld by a federal judge.

Blue Origin is expected to practice landing on the moon before astronauts are on it just like SpaceX previously did, the AP reported.