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Three Firms Secure $254M in NASA Lunar Payload Delivery Contracts; Jim Bridenstine Quoted


Jeff Brody

Three small businesses received separate contracts worth potentially $253.5M combined to help NASA send payloads to the lunar surface under the two-phase Artemis program.

Contractors will also integrate and manage technology platforms for NASA™s scientific studies while supporting assessments for future landers and related systems that could potentially send astronauts to the moon and Mars, NASA said Friday

The agency awarded $97M to Orbit Beyond to carry up to four Commercial Lunar Payload Services cargo to the moon™s Mare Imbrium lava plain; $79.5M to Astrobotic to send a maximum of 14 payloads to the moon™s Lacus Mortis crater; and $77M to Intuitive Machines to deliver up to five payloads to the moon™s Oceanus Procellarum area.

Jim Bridenstine, administrator of NASA and a 2019 Wash100 recipient, said the agency’s investment in commercial landing services represents a step toward establishing a space economy beyond low-Earth orbit.

NASA expects Orbit Beyond to finish contract work in September 2020.

Astrorobotic and Intuitive Machines are expected to complete services by July 2021.

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