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NASA chose the first commercial companies to bring their equipment to the moon during its human landing in 2024: Astrobotic, Intuitive Machines and Orbit Beyond.
The companies will build lunar landers to carry NASA's scientific experiments and technological demonstrations on the lunar surface. These flights will be the first step in the agency's ambitious Artemis program to land humans on the moon in 2024. The first mission, launched by Orbit Beyond, will be launched in September 2020. The other two will be launched at the same time. 39, summer 2021.
"It's really exciting, it's a new way of doing business at NASA," said Thomas Zurbuchen, chief executive officer of NASA's science mission, Friday, May 31, at the Goddard announcement. Space Flight Center of the agency in Maryland.
"We can not wait to do the science we want to do with the instruments we are developing right now – a science for which, in many cases even five years ago, we did not know how to ask questions. That's how urgent it is, "he said.
Astrobotic, Intuitive Machines and Orbit Beyond will each offer a selection of NASA payloads designed to answer scientific questions about the moon or test new technologies developed by engineers to advance space exploration.
NASA is providing $ 79.5 million to Astrobotic, $ 77 million to Intuitive Machines and $ 97 million to Orbit Beyond for work on their landing gear.
NASA has not yet decided precisely which payloads will fly on which undercarriage; the agency intends to do so later this year. Astrobotic has announced that its Peregrine LG will carry up to 14 payloads for NASA as well as 14 experiments for other customers (for a total of 28 payloads in all.) Intuitive Machines will perform five sorties on its Nova lander -C, Orbit Beyond taking away four payloads on his own Z-01 lander.
But the lender of each company will carry more than the payloads of NASA. Orbit Beyond presented a small demonstration rover as well as its LG model at the event organized by NASA to announce its trading partners. Astrobotic has also announced its intention to carry rovers on its lunar lander.
Two of the selected companies plan to launch their missions in two years.
Astrobotic plans to launch his lander in June 2021 and land in July 2021; Intuitive machines for launch and landing in July 2021. Orbit Beyond clearly pushes back the deadline: the company told NASA that it could land on the moon on September 27, 2020.
This announcement follows the selection of nine finalist companies announced in November. At the time, NASA had not given any details about the specific criteria that had guided its choices.
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