NASA Acting Administrator Sean Duffy has announced plans to reopen the Artemis 3 Human Landing System contract to competition, SpaceNews reported Monday.
Why Is NASA Reopening the Artemis 3 Lander Contract?
In recent television interviews, Duffy said the agency will allow other companies to compete for the contract due to delays by the current contractor, SpaceX, in developing its Starship lunar lander. SpaceX was initially awarded a $2.9 billion firm-fixed-price contract in 2021 to provide the lander for the Artemis 3 mission.
The decision is intended to sustain progress in lunar exploration amid increasing global competition, including from China.
“We’re going to have a space race in regard to American companies competing to see who can actually get us back to the moon first,” said Duffy.
What Are NASA’s Plans to Accelerate Lunar Missions?
According to Bethany Stevens, NASA’s press secretary, the Human Landing System program has asked both SpaceX and Blue Origin to present acceleration proposals by Oct. 29. She added that the agency will issue a request for information to gather input from the commercial space industry on how to increase the cadence of lunar missions.
What Is Blue Origin’s Role in Future Artemis Missions?
Blue Origin, under a separate HLS award, is currently developing the Blue Moon Mark 2 lander for Artemis 5 and future missions. The company has reportedly explored modifying its smaller Mark 1 lander for crewed missions.
