SpaceX won't be the only one that will get astronauts to the moon in the future. NASA has other plans.
The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) announced it would be giving another privately-owned company the opportunity of sending a Moon Lander for the Artemis mission in the near future.
The decision to support the development of another Moon Lander was due to U.S. Congress allocating the necessary funding to NASA to do so, per Space.com.
Artist concept of Artemis astronaut stepping onto the Moon.
NASA's Second Moon Lander Development Details
According to the Administration's announcement, the second and future Moon Landers developed will be used for missions beyond Artemis III, which NASA expects will take place in more than 50 years.
As such, it will issue a draft solicitation in the coming weeks, which would reveal the requirements for future development and demonstration of lunar landing capability to take astronauts between the Moon's orbit and surface.
NASA Administrator Bill Nelson mentioned that competition is critical to NASA's success on the lunar surface and beyond as it ensures it can carry out various missions over the next decade.
"Under Artemis, NASA will Carry out a series of groundbreaking missions on and around the Moon to prepare for the next giant leap for humanity: a crewed mission to Mars," Nelson said.
NASA expects the new landers to have the capability to dock on Gateway, a lunar orbiting space station, increase crew capacity, and transport more science and technology to the Moon's surface, per its specifications for long-term requirements at the Moon.
It is possible that NASA could consider Jeff Bezos' Blue Origin and Dynetics for the job as they were the previous two finalists for the Administration's landing award.
NASA's Plans with SpaceX
SpaceX, NASA's existing partner on the Artemis missions, will not be left out either. NASA is opening an opportunity for Elon Musk's company to renegotiate the terms of its existing contract to perform additional lunar development work.
This additional lunar development work involves SpaceX transforming its proposed human landing system into a spacecraft that meets the Administration's requirements for "recurring services" for a second demonstration mission.
This opportunity for SpaceX will allow NASA to pursue more development work under its original contract with SpaceX while maximizing NASA's investment.
NASA's Reasons Behind Recent Developments
Lisa Watson-Morgan, program manager for the Human landing System Program at NASA's Marshall Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama, said that the addition of a second private company and expanding SpaceX's contract would expedite the Administration's progress toward "a long-term, sustaining lander capability as early as the 2026 or 2027 timeframe."
"We expect to have two companies safely carry astronauts in their landers to the surface of the Moon under NASA's guidance before we ask for services, which could result in multiple experienced providers in the market," Watson-Morgan added.
NASA will host a virtual industry day after the new draft solicitation is published. It also plans to issue the formal request for proposals this summer once comments and questions regarding the draft solicitation process are reviewed.
