Newt Gingrich Proposes $ 2 Billion for Moon Human Lander

In the 2020 campaign speeches, President Donald Trump regularly discusses the theme of the commercial space. Trump often says he likes the fact that Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos and other billionaires who invest in aerospace are building reusable rockets and are paying NASA's rent to use the agency's facilities.

Now, some councilors are quietly urging the president to further his enthusiasm for commercial spaces and entrepreneurs – creating a prize for anyone who lands humans on the moon. This effort, led by former Republican Speaker of the House, Newt Gingrich, was first reported by Politico. He would award a $ 2 billion prize to the first company to land humans on the moon, and the winner would probably be Musk or Bezos.

Of course, NASA already has its own Moon plan, called Artemis Program. According to this plan, the space agency would use its own rocket (the space launch system) and its spacecraft (Orion) as vehicles to send two human beings to the surface of the moon by 2024. NASA has not clarified the acceleration of human return to the moon. but the cost will probably be between $ 6 billion and $ 8 billion a year, in addition to the agency's current budget.

The $ 2 billion competition will not supplant the Artemis program, said Professor Greg Autry of the University of Southern California, a member of Trump's transition team in 2017. Autry helped design the idea and said that the contest would be a complementary plan. In an interview with Ars, Autry said that, if NASA was not interested in funding this, another US agency (such as the Commerce Department) could be it.

Investment Incentive

Although $ 2 billion is not enough for Musk SpaceX or Blue Origin from Bezos to land humans on the moon, this is a significant start. (Professor Autry argued for a total prize pool of $ 5 billion, of which $ 3 billion would go to the first company to reach the moon, while $ 2 billion would come back for an additional price.) More importantly, such a prize would create the confidence in potential investors in SpaceX and Blue Origin.

Independently of NASA, and with private funding, both companies are working on a technology that would allow a human return to the moon at a cost well below that of NASA 's traditional linear approach in order to achieve the goal. a landing in 2024. SpaceX builds a large spaceship, Starship, and a Super Heavy rocket. And Blue Origin has its new Glenn rocket and its Blue Moon landing vehicles. Everyone would like to partner with NASA, both for funding and the agency's expertise in manned spaceflight and for knowledge of the moon.

Trump could consider the price as a relatively inexpensive way to reach NASA's mid-point target of landing on the moon while allowing the space agency to pivot to its preferred destination, Mars. "One day soon, American astronauts will plant stars and stripes on the surface of Mars," Trump said recently during a speech that ignored the moon.

Of course, if the president can propose new programs, the Congress must fund them. At least in appearance, the US House and Senate seem to much prefer NASA's existing programs, which are carefully divided by members of Congress in their districts and among favored subcontractors.