Blue Origin Secures NASA Contract to Land Astronauts on Moon Amid Controversial Bid Process

Blue Origin, founded by Jeff Bezos, has won a contract with NASA to develop a lunar landing system for the Artemis V mission. This decision follows a highly contested bidding process that sparked controversy when NASA initially chose SpaceX as the sole developer. The contract aims to foster competition and redundancy in human landing systems, reflecting NASA’s growing reliance on commercial partners for space hardware.

Dynetics, a subsidiary of Leidos, also vied for the contract but was not selected. NASA Administrator Bill Nelson emphasized the agency’s commitment to competition and redundancy, highlighting the importance of having multiple landers for enhanced reliability and backup capabilities.

NASA’s Artemis Program aims to return astronauts to the moon, with the successful completion of the uncrewed Artemis I mission and the upcoming Artemis II mission, which will see astronauts orbiting the moon. The Artemis III mission, slated for 2025, will mark a historic milestone as the first woman and person of color set foot on the lunar surface. To enable lunar landings, NASA collaborated with commercial companies to develop human landing systems, as the Orion capsule used in previous missions is not designed for that purpose.

Under the contract, selected companies will design, own, and operate the landers. SpaceX’s Starship spacecraft was chosen for Artemis III and IV, while Blue Origin’s Blue Moon will contribute to Artemis V in 2029. Blue Origin secured a $3.4 billion contract from NASA and plans to invest significantly more in the project, according to John Couluris, Blue Origin’s VP for lunar transportation.

This partnership between NASA and commercial entities reflects a shift toward public-private collaborations, sharing technical and financial risks. While NASA ideally prefers multiple companies involved for redundancy, budget limitations resulted in the selection of only one human landing system in 2021.

Blue Origin, headquartered in Kent, Washington, is collaborating with Lockheed Martin, Draper, Boeing, Astrobotic, and Honeybee Robotics as part of the National Team to develop the Blue Moon lander. The team will commence with an uncrewed mission to the moon, and for Artemis V, astronauts will transfer from the Orion capsule to the future Gateway space station before embarking on a weeklong stay at the moon’s South Pole aboard the Blue Moon lander.

The launch of Blue Origin’s lunar lander will be facilitated by the New Glenn rocket, which is currently in development. SpaceX faces a similar situation with its Starship spacecraft, which recently encountered a failed flight test. Blue Origin follows a cautious approach, prioritizing success before launching.

Securing this contract has been a lengthy and challenging process for Blue Origin, involving protests and a lawsuit after their initial exclusion in 2021. Jeff Bezos even offered to forgo payments and provide additional incentives in an open letter to NASA Administrator Bill Nelson. The National Team, having learned from previous attempts, adjusted its approach to secure the contract. However, Couluris acknowledged that much work lies ahead before achieving the successful landing and return of astronauts to the moon.