NASA has chosen SpaceX to take its astronauts to the moon for them.
The space agency recently announced that SpaceX would officially be building the spacecraft needed to take its astronauts to the surface of the moon as part of the Artemis program.
You may remember that the Artemis program is a set of missions with the goal of taking humanity back to the moon and the preparation to explore space further with crewed missions to Mars and beyond.
NASA Artemis III Plan Details
NASA mentioned in its announcement that it had awarded SpaceX a contract modification to develop its Starship human landing system further to accommodate long-term human exploration of the moon.
The space agency also mentioned that the goal of this modification is to have SpaceX develop and demonstrate a Starship that meets NASA's requirements for missions beyond Artemis III, planned to be the first crewed lunar mission under the Artemis program.
As such, SpaceX will provide a second crewed landing demonstration mission in 2027 as part of the NASA Artemis IV mission.
This modification, known within the space agency as Option B, follows NASA's award to SpaceX in July 2021 under the Next Space Technologies for Exploration Partnerships-2 (NextSTEP-2) Appendix H Option A contract.
The new modification will cost NASA about $1.15 billion in funding.
According to Lisa Watson-Morgan, the continuation of its collaboration with SpaceX through Option B advances the space agency's plans for regular crewed transportation to the moon's surface and establishing a long-term human presence under the Artemis program.
"This critical work will help us focus on the development of sustainable, service-based lunar landers anchored to NASA's requirements for regularly recurring missions to the lunar surface," Watson-Morgan added.
Watson-Morgan is the program manager for the Human landing System Program at NASA's Marshall Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama.
SpaceX CEO Elon Musk expressed his happiness for the news in a tweet on Nov. 15, with him saying that their trust is much appreciated and that SpaceX will not disappoint.
Why SpaceX?
NASA choosing SpaceX to take its astronauts to the moon isn't a surprising move - the space agency previously selected SpaceX's Starship vehicle for Artemis III.
For those unaware, SpaceX's Starship is a fully reusable transport system capable of carrying 100 people to Mars, per the BBC. However, NASA only needs a variant of the Starship to transport astronauts to the moon for the Artemis III mission.
Additionally, NASA also opened an opportunity for SpaceX to renegotiate the terms of its existing contract to perform additional lunar development work, expediting its progress toward "a long-term, sustaining lander capability as early as the 2026 or 2027 timeframe."
NASA Administrator Bill nelson said that putting astronauts to live, learn, and work on the moon is "a bold endeavor," and that with future partners, along with SpaceX, NASA will be better positioned to accomplish future missions.
SpaceX's starship, meanwhile, remains in development, per Space.com. However, its first-ever orbital flight could occur before the end of 2022, which could signal the beginning of the end for Starship's development.
