HUNTSVILLE, Ala. — One of NASA's biggest missions is to get human backs to the moon 2029.To develop a human landing system for the Artemis V mission that will do just that, NASA has selected Blue Origin of Kent, Washington. Through Artemis, NASA will explore more of the Moon than ever before, uncovering more scientific discoveries, and preparing for future astronaut missions to Mars.
"I'm just so excited about having a new partner, which is being led out of Huntsville for the future of space exploration," Jody Singer, Director of Marshall Space Flight Center shares. "These facilities provide key capabilities for lander development, habitation systems, you name it."
Blue Origin will design, develop, test, and verify its Blue Moon lander to meet NASA’s human landing system requirements for recurring astronaut expeditions to the lunar surface, including docking with Gateway, a space station where crew transfer in lunar orbit. In addition to design and development work, the contract includes one uncrewed demonstration mission to the lunar surface before a crewed demo on the Artemis V mission in 2029. "The national team is incredibly honored and humbled by this selection. We're excited to be working together," John Couluris, Blue Origin Vice President for Lunar Transportation shares. "We've been working for many years on this for this day and for the day. That's coming up in a few years where we land people on the moon."
Adding another human landing system partner to NASA’s Artemis program will increase competition, reduce costs to taxpayers, support a regular cadence of lunar landings, further invest in the lunar economy, and help NASA achieve its goals on and around the Moon in preparation for future astronaut missions to Mars.
The agency previously contracted SpaceX to demonstrate an initial human landing system for the Artemis III mission. Under that contract, the agency also directed SpaceX to evolve its design to meet the agency’s requirements for sustainable exploration and to demonstrate the lander on Artemis IV. As a result of the contract with Blue Origin to demonstrate on Artemis V a lander that meets these same sustainable lander requirements, including capabilities for increased crew size, longer mission duration, and delivery of more mass to the Moon, multiple providers will be available to compete for future opportunities to fulfill NASA’s lunar surface access needs for Artemis missions.
“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,” said Lisa Watson-Morgan, manager, Human Landing System Program at NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama. “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.”
By supporting industry’s development of innovative human landing system concepts and designs, NASA will help increase access to space for the benefit of all.