After more than half a century, America’s ambitious Atemis moon mission has been handed over to American technology firms, accelerating the design and development of the lunar lander system.

The parties will continue to work together until 2021, before NASA decides to select the final design to begin construction.

Tỷ phú Elon Musk và Jeff Bezos trúng gói thầu thực hiện sứ mệnh Artemis trị giá gần 1.000 tỷ USD của NASA. Ảnh: Getty

NASA’s Artemis mission is one of America’s most anticipated space ambitions. After nearly half a century since the first humans on the Apollo 11 spacecraft set foot on the Moon, NASA still promises bigger projects than that. However, since 1972, the US has not yet deployed the system to send people into space. Space development and exploration remains a key part of America’s space exploration plan.

The space return project announced by NASA has become an extremely expensive space race for American billionaires.

According to NASA’s announcement on April 30, the Blue Origin company of the world’s richest man Jeff Bezos and SpaceX of technology billionaire Elon Musk have been selected to send gold to develop a space station system in 2024. two tech moguls, NASA also awarded part of a 10-month contract to contractor Dynetics.

To realize the dream of bringing humans back to the Moon, NASA is racing quickly when the Artemis mission deadline is only 4 years. This time, the goal is set to “put the first woman to set foot on the lunar surface”.

During its mission, NASA will conduct exploration and research near the Moon’s south pole to establish a permanent base here. The company has paid attention to signs and icebergs in the craters, in the hope that it can be used to sustain life or as fuel.

Jim Bridenstine, NASA administrator, “It’s important that NASA does this now, as both our country and the world are shaken by the Covid-19 pandemic. We want to give people the faith and hope that they can inspire in America and around the world.”

Kể từ khi đưa người đầu tiên lên Mặt Trăng vào năm 1972, NASA mới công bố kế hoạch đưa người quay lại vũ trụ. Ảnh: NASA

According to the contract, Blue Origin won the largest contract worth $ 579 million, while SpaceX was $ 135 million and Dynetics with $ 253 million.

Previously, participating in the race to compete for contracts with NASA also included Boeing. In association with Aerojet Rocketdyne, Boeing proposed building a rocket to upgrade the Space Launch System (SLS) but was not approved.

Fierce race between billionaires

In 2019, Bezos suddenly shared his ambition to “go to the moon” and introduced his Blue Moon lander.

Reminiscent of the sci-fi movie Interstella, the Amazon boss shares detailed visions of the universe and space that space company Blue Origin is aiming for.

As of July 2014, Bezos has invested more than $500 million in Blue Origin. The company revealed that the Blue Moon lander has been quietly developed over the years, with a surface capable of carrying loads of up to many tons. CEO Bob Smith emphasized that the space stations will pave the way for a “sustainable human presence on the Moon”, and said that 6 customers have already signed up with the company.

Blue Origin’s Integrated Ground Vehicle (ILV), aka Blue Moon, has a payload capacity of up to tons. Photo: Getty

The lander was developed by the company on 3-stage technology, based on the New Glenn Rocket System and ULA Vulcan. The technology has been developed and tested by Blue Origin over the past few years with its New Shepard rocket, with superior propulsion and precision guidance along with a vertical landing system.

Meanwhile, SpaceX has also joined the race and is known to be promoting development of a rocket called Starship in Texas. SpaceX said it will launch a “moon orbit optimized Starship”, capable of carrying crews from lunar orbit to the lunar surface under NASA’s Artemis program.

Billionaire Elon Musk’s $33.3 billion airline said, “A lunar orbital optimized spacecraft can fly multiple times between the lunar surface and its orbit without the need for a lid or cover the necessary heat when returning to Earth”.

The fact that SpaceX won the bid with NASA was a big surprise because billionaire Elon Musk is famous for his somewhat different ideas and statements, in addition, SpaceX has repeatedly delayed the progress of space conquest before.

In 2019, CEO Bridenstine once criticized SpaceX for delaying the timelines to develop the Crew Dragon spacecraft, warning US investors and space contractors.

However, in this project, a NASA representative affirmed, “This project will soon become a reality, we have taken into account both the cost and the specific schedule. As a result, I made announcements to both SpaceX and other contractors, emphasizing realistic timelines for project development.”

Currently, billionaire Musk cooperates with NASA to develop the Crew Dragon spacecraft to transport astronauts to the International Space Station (ISS). Meanwhile, Dynetics holds the design category for the Dynetics Human Landing System (DHLS). The company will design useful components for space such as satellites, propulsion systems, vehicles, satellites …

While contractors adjust plans, NASA will continue to evaluate contracts to select the final design for the Artemis mission.