US, WASHINGTON (ORDO NEWS) — On Thursday, NASA signed nearly $ 1 billion worth of contracts with three space companies, including those owned by Elon Musk and Jeff Bezos, for the development of lunar ships, as the United States seeks to bring people back to the moon.
Contracts for crew landing systems were transferred to SpaceX, Blue Origin and Dynetics, which receive $ 967 million.
All three will compete with each other during the contract period ending in February 2021, when NASA decides which of them will be able to carry out demonstration missions.
“America is moving forward by taking the last step necessary for the astronauts to land on the moon by 2024, including the incredible moment when we see the first woman to set foot on the lunar surface,” said NASA administrator Jim Bridenstine.
“For the first time since Apollo, NASA has received direct funding for the people landing system, and now we have contract companies to carry out the Artemis program.”
The human moon system is one of the main elements of the Artemis mission, along with a space launch system, an Orion crew capsule led by Lockheed Martin and Gateway, and a small space station that will orbit the moon.
This statement was made when the world is fighting the coronavirus pandemic, which has killed nearly 230,000 people since its inception at the end of last year and halted the global economy.
Breidenstein said it’s more important than ever for a mission to move forward.
“I want to say that it is important that these agencies do it now, because our country, and in fact the whole world, is shocked by the coronavirus pandemic,” said Breidenstein.
“And yet we need to give people hope. We need to give them something that they can look at, dream about, that will inspire not only the nation, but the whole world.”
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