NASA revealed today plans to create a second human lunar lander for the agency’s Artemis programme, which is the agency’s largest spaceflight endeavour aimed at returning humans to the Moon. To develop the vehicle, the space agency is soliciting proposals for landers capable of transporting humans to and from the Moon’s orbit and surface, with the objective of having them ready by 2026 or 2027 at the earliest.
NASA has already contracted with private partner SpaceX to create a lunar lander for Artemis, which will attempt to place the first woman and person of colour on the Moon. In 2021, the space agency awarded SpaceX a $2.9 billion single contract to develop the company’s future Starship spacecraft into a lunar lander capable of transporting humans to and from the lunar surface. NASA and SpaceX are now aiming to make the first Artemis lunar landing in 2025, while that schedule is deemed improbable.
NASA originally intended to award contracts to two companies to construct human lunar landers for Artemis in order to stimulate competition and keep costs down. The government intended to choose two finalists from among three: SpaceX, Blue Origin, and Dynetics. However, the agency finally picked one, owing to budgetary restrictions. NASA sought $3.4 billion from Congress in 2021 to support the construction of the Artemis lunar landers but obtained just $850 million, or less than a quarter of what was requested. As a consequence, NASA selected SpaceX, in part because the business submitted the lowest proposal.
The choice to choose just one business, on the other hand, did not sit well with the losing finalists. Blue Origin then sued NASA in federal court over the selection, but eventually lost. Despite the lawsuit, NASA administrator Bill Nelson reaffirmed his desire for two lunar lander providers in the future, expressing optimism that Congress will support the programme. And at one time, it appeared as though Congress might instruct NASA to do this. The Senate Appropriations Committee presented a measure in October directing NASA to select a second firm to construct the Artemis lunar lander. However, the most recent budget bill put into law for 2022 did not require NASA to do so, but it did provide the space agency with the entire $1.195 billion requested for lunar landers development.
NASA has stated that in light of this disclosure, it will modify SpaceX’s existing contract. NASA’s initial contract with SpaceX called for SpaceX to make an uncrewed lunar landing as a demonstration mission before attempting the first crewed landing in the mid-2020s. That initial landing, which would represent NASA’s first human mission to the Moon since the 1970s, will be designated Artemis III and is expected to garner considerable attention. Following that, SpaceX would have entered into a new operational contract with NASA, under which the space agency would purchase individual Starship lander missions to continue returning to the Moon.
NASA now intends to cooperate with SpaceX under the terms of its original contract to execute a third crewed landing following Artemis III. Following that, SpaceX and the new business selected by NASA would likely compete for forthcoming Artemis missions – that is, assuming the providers are prepared.
