Bulletins

SpaceX wins $2.9-billion NASA contract to help send humans to the moon

NASA awarded SpaceX a fixed-price contract to help develop a spacecraft that will carry two American astronauts to the lunar surface by 2024.

SpaceX wins $2.9-billion NASA contract to help send humans to the moon

Photo: SpaceX

To the mooooooooooon

SpaceX beat out competition including the Bezos-backed Blue Origin and Leidos-subsidiary Dynetics to win the contract.

All three organizations were awarded 10-month contracts to build lunar lander concepts as part of the Human Landing Systems program. Blue Origin — which submitted a proposal in partnership with Lockheed Martin and Northrop Grumman — received more than four times the amount of funding relative to SpaceX in this concept period.

In describing the motivations for the lunar mission, NASA cites "scientific discovery, economic benefits, and inspiration for a new generation."

"By taking a collaborative approach in working with industry while leveraging NASA's proven technical expertise and capabilities, we will return American astronauts to the moon's surface once again, this time to explore new areas for longer periods of time," said Lisa Watson-Morgan, the program manager for the human landing system at NASA, in the press release announcing SpaceX's award of the contract.

Hirsh Chitkara

Hirsh Chitkara ( @HirshChitkara) is a reporter at Protocol focused on the intersection of politics, technology and society. Before joining Protocol, he helped write a daily newsletter at Insider that covered all things Big Tech. He's based in New York and can be reached at hchitkara@protocol.com.

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