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NASA is looking for ideas from private companies to deliver supplies to its future Gateway Station around the Moon, the agency's flagship Artemis program aimed at returning to the lunar surface.
As part of the Artemis program, NASA aims to land the first woman and the next man on the moon by 2024. This initiative includes a number of individual efforts, including the creation of the Lunar Orbital Platform-Gateway. This station will orbit the moon 40,000 km (40,000 km) from the Earth and allow astronauts who may be on the lunar surface to access supplies more easily.
NASA is now looking for proposals US companies to create spacecraft capable of transporting and delivering cargo under pressure and without pressure to the lunar bridge. The craft will have to launch on a commercial rocket and be able to perform six months of moored operations at the bridge, which will be followed by an autonomous elimination.
Related: 50 years after Apollo, can NASA return to the Moon by 2024?
"Working with the industry to provide the supplies needed for our lunar missions is a crucial step in accelerating our return to the moon as part of the Artemis program, and in particular to achieve this ambitious goal of landing the next astronauts." Americans on the Moon by 2024, "said NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine. said in a statement.
"This solicitation builds on NASA's innovative low-Earth-orbit capabilities with the commercial freight replenishment of the International Space Station and is the next step in the commercialization of deep space." We look forward to the industry's response to our latest solicitation, "he said.
This RFP is another step forward for NASA's business partnerships. The agency has previously launched a call for companies to offer ideas landing payloads on the lunar surface and develop new technologies for future lunar missions with crew.
A winning proposal would win a 15 year contract of indefinite delivery / indeterminate amount of up to $ 7 billion. The contract would guarantee a minimum of two missions and could be followed by future contract opportunities.
NASA is looking for companies wishing to create a spacecraft taking into account the design of its logistic gear, its volume capacity, its volume under pressure, its power for payloads and its transit time to the bridge.
"We chose to minimize the need for spacecraft on the industry to enable commercial innovation, but we are asking the industry to come up with its best solutions for freight delivery and shipping. activation of our supply chain for distant spaces, "said Mark Wiese, NASA Gateway Logistics Manager at Kennedy Space Center. said in the same statement.
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