NASA on Friday awarded a contract to SpaceX to build a new capsule to land astronauts on the moon, the latest in a series of lunar-related victories for the company controlled by Elon Musk.
SpaceX has knocked out two competitors for the Moon Landing System lunar taxi that will transport astronauts to and from the lunar surface from an orbiting capsule as early as 2024. The contract is part of a larger Artemis program led by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration to explore and develop deep space. The program relies more heavily on the private sector and commercial funding than previous efforts.
The Lander agreement contributes to the products that SpaceX is developing, with recent rounds of funding raising its valuation to nearly $ 100 billion as it pursues a mix of new rockets, space taxis and a variety of hundreds of satellites for military and commercial customers.
SpaceX is already flying astronauts on behalf of NASA to and from the International Space Station and is developing a large new rocket called the Super Heavy to launch the Starship vehicle on which its lunar lander is based. The Starship made a series of test flights from Texas, some of which eventually failed after exploding during landing.
NASA plans to use a new rocket manufactured by Boeing Co in November for a lunar mission known as Artemis 1. It will fly around the moon before the Orion crew capsule manufactured by Lockheed Martin Corp. goes to Earth. be returned.