NASA requests for another Artemis moon lander and is asking for proposal concepts from various space firms, the space agency has officially announced.
But how about the Artemis 1 lunar lander, which the space agency tasked Elon Musk's SpaceX?
NASA Requests for Another Artemis Moon Lander
As per the latest report by Digital Trends, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) is looking to add another lunar lander as it gears up for the crewed mission of its astronauts to the moon.
The news outlet notes that the United States space agency has admitted before that it is actually open to looking into moon lander concepts from other companies.
And this time, it looks like that day has finally arrived.
According to a report by Space News, NASA is planning to award two lunar lander contracts. The first one is meant to carry their astronauts to the moon, whereas the second one is specifically for uncrewed missions.
It is to note that the space agency opened its proposals for a new moon lander roughly six months after it confirmed the ambitious Sustaining Lunar Development SLD project back in March.
The Human Landing System (HLS) program manager, Lisa Watson-Morgan, further explained the newly opened "solicitation."
Morgan from the Marshall Space Flight Center of NASA explains that "work done under this solicitation, in addition to current lander development and studies taking place, will help build the foundation for long-term deep space exploration."
How About SpaceX's Lunar Lander?
It is worth pointing out that SpaceX is already gearing up to bring back NASA astronauts to the moon for the upcoming Artemis missions.
But what does this mean that NASA is now looking for another lunar lander concept?
The space agency explains that the selected firms for new crewed and uncrewed landers are meant to support SpaceX for the Artemis 3 mission.
Space News notes in the same report that SpaceX is looking to land the first crewed mission under the Artemis project sometime in 2025.
Meanwhile, Digital Trends highlights that the development of SpaceX for the Artemis lunar lander faced some issues along the way.
After NASA awarded SpaceX the contract to build a moon lander, competing space firm, Blue Origin, contested the result. And it got quite controversial after the space company brought NASA to court.
Given that, it remains to be seen if Blue Origin is taking their chances to shoot their shot this time around.
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Written by Teejay Boris
