A bevy of space companies will lend a hand to NASA's moon goals under new contracts centered around the agency's upcoming Artemis missions. Nine companies in seven states are now engaged, under the Next Space Technologies for Exploration Partnerships (NextSTEP) Appendix R contracts.
"These contract awards are the catalyst for developing critical capabilities for the Artemis missions and the everyday needs of astronauts for long-term exploration on the lunar surface," Nujoud Merancy, deputy associate administrator, Strategy and Architecture Office at NASA Headquarters in Washington, said in a statement.
Under the new contracts, the companies will work on a range of tasks to tackle the challenges that arise in the moon's environment, as identified in NASA's Moon to Mars Architecture — an overarching plan that aims to address the "elements needed for long-term, human-led scientific discovery in deep space," according to the agency's website.
"The strong response to our request for proposals is a testament to the interest in human exploration and the growing deep-space economy," Merancy said. "This is an important step to a sustainable return to the moon that, along with our commercial partners, will lead to innovation and expand our knowledge for future lunar missions, looking toward Mars."
Related: NASA's Artemis program: Everything you need to know
The proposals are worth $24 million in total, with each company receiving a portion of the funding for their work. The companies named in the announcement are:
- Blue Origin (Florida)
- Leidos (Virginia)
- Moonprint (Delaware)
- Pratt Miller Defense (Michigan)
- Special Aerospace Services (Alabama)
- Intuitive Machines (Texas)
- MDA Space (Texas)
- Lockheed Martin (Colorado)
- Sierra Space (Colorado)
Most of the contracts involve logistics and strategies for dealing with lunar surface cargo, such as moving, staging, storing, tracking, and transferring gear — as well as trash management.
The Artemis program represents NASA's long-awaited return to crewed moon missions. After delays, the first pair of crewed Artemis moon missions are now scheduled for 2026 and 2027.
Artemis 2 will send four astronauts — three Americans and a Canadian — around the moon. It's scheduled to launch in April 2026. Artemis 3 will put humans down on the moon's surface for the first time since Apollo 17 in 1972. It's now scheduled for mid-2027.
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