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Moon Race Heats Up: Musk vs. Bezos for NASA Contract
13 Apr
Summary
- SpaceX and Blue Origin are competing for a NASA lunar landing contract.
- Artemis III will test landers in low-Earth orbit before a 2028 landing.
- Starship and Blue Moon landers differ significantly in capacity and design.
Elon Musk's SpaceX and Jeff Bezos' Blue Origin are engaged in a critical phase of the billionaire space race, vying for a significant NASA lunar landing contract. Both companies have developed landers, with NASA planning to pit them against each other during the Artemis III mission, scheduled for 2027.
This mission, revised from its initial lunar landing plan, will function as a low-Earth orbit test of the landers' capabilities. Astronauts will practice docking their Orion crew capsule with the lander, which will then be assessed for life support, propulsion, and communication systems. The goal is to determine which lander will be selected for the historic Artemis IV lunar landing in 2028.
SpaceX's Starship Human Landing System, a massive reusable craft, received a $2.89 billion contract. It boasts a higher capacity, designed for up to 100 crew and 200 tonnes of cargo, and utilizes methane and oxygen fuel. Blue Origin's Blue Moon lander, contracted for $3.4 billion with significant company investment, is a smaller craft for four astronauts, using liquid hydrogen and oxygen.
Despite SpaceX's earlier contract and lead, ongoing delays with Starship's development have created an opening for Blue Origin. While Starship has faced numerous testing failures, Blue Origin recently completed crucial thermal vacuum testing for its lander and plans a Pathfinder Mission near the moon's south pole later this year. NASA indicated that the lander demonstrating superior readiness or performance during Artemis III will be chosen for the 2028 landing, with the other potentially selected for the Artemis V mission.
Beyond these initial landings, NASA aims to establish a permanent human presence on the moon. The European Space Agency is developing its own Argonaut lander for the early 2030s to aid in constructing a lunar base. This lunar outpost, targeted for the moon's south pole, could exploit resources like frozen water and valuable minerals, potentially enabling future lunar settlements and even births on the moon by mid-century.
