SpaceX receives next billion order – t3n – digital pioneers
The tip of the Starship is to be converted into a landing module. (Screenshot: Twitter/t3n)
U-turn at NASA: Instead of just bringing one team to the moon as part of the Artemis 4 mission, there should now be two crews. SpaceX is building a second lunar lander for this. The order is worth US$1.15 billion.
Nasa had already secured the option in the contract with SpaceX. Now the US space agency is actually pulling the so-called option B.
A manned spacecraft based on SpaceX’s Starship is scheduled to reach the moon in 2025, but realistically more likely in 2026. As part of the Artemis 4 mission, which will probably follow in 2027, it was initially not planned to bring another team of astronauts to the moon. NASA has now changed its mind, like the head of the agency, Bill Nelson in a statement announces, “With multiple planned landings by SpaceX and future partners, NASA will be better positioned to fulfill the missions of tomorrow, which means doing more science on the lunar surface than ever before and preparing for manned missions to Mars.”
NASA’s decision may have something to do with the fact that Artemis-4 is also supposed to bring two modules into lunar orbit for the construction of a space station. Basically, one of the goals of the Artemis missions is to anchor a permanent human presence on the moon.
It is obvious that Elon Musk’s SpaceX received this order. On the one hand, NASA had reserved the right to extend the contract from the start. On the other hand, SpaceX also provides the moon lander for the Artemis 3 mission.
The private space company received this initial order worth 2.89 billion dollars in 2021. The plan is to convert a modified Starship spaceship into a lander. The second ferry that has now been commissioned is also to be a Starship conversion.
In use, it should then be able to dock with the Nasa-Lunar Gateway, i.e. the future outpost in lunar orbit, accommodate four crew members and bring more cargo to the lunar surface, the authority explains. This is to ensure “regular transport of crew members to the lunar surface”, as confirmed by NASA manager Lisa Watson-Morgan.
For the time after the Artemis 4 mission, however, the cards could be reshuffled. NASA has already asked other space companies to submit designs for lunar landers that could be used in future missions. Blue Origin, the company of Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, should be particularly interested in this.
