JEFF Bezos could get his chance to send humans to the Moon – as Nasa opens bids for a SECOND lunar lander.
Last April, Nasa awarded a £2.1billion contract to build the first lander to Elon Musk’s SpaceX.
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It’s expected to return to the Moon as early as 2025 as part of the manned Artemis mission.
Musk beat out Amazon billionaire Bezos’ Blue Origin and defence contractor Dynetics Inc in 2021.
But Bezos, 58, is now free to make another bid to create a Moon lander for Nasa.
Any commercial space company can apply to build the craft.
It will need to shuttle people to to and from the Moon’s surface from lunar orbit.
And the craft needs to be complete by 2026 or 2027.
Musk’s SpaceX lander is expected to land the first woman and first person of colour on the Moon.
And the landing is potentially just three years away, although delays are possible.
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When he won the contract, Tesla chief Musk celebrated by tweeting: “Nasa Rules!!”
The lander is based on his firm’s Starship craft being tested in Texas.
Nasa said it will carry two US astronauts as part of its Artemis programme, which could lead to a permanent lunar base and a Mars landing.
“We won’t stop at the moon,” said Nasa’s acting administrator Steve Jurczyk. “Mars is the ultimate goal.”
The Trump administration originally set a 2024 deadline for the landing, but we don’t expect to see a launch before 2025.
“We’ll do it when it’s safe,” said Kathy Lueders, who leads Nasa’s human space exploration office, speaking last year.
Nasa has said at least one of the first moonwalkers since 1972 would be the first woman on the moon.
Bezos only narrowly missed out on being part of the original winning line-up.
Nasa intended to pick two winners from the three finalists last year, but settled on one in the end.
The decision to choose just one winner was linked to budget issues, after Nasa received roughly a quarter of the $3.4billion it requested.
Blue Origin went on to launch (and lose) a lawsuit against Nasa.
Nasa has since been given more cash to develop new lunar landers, and Blue Origin could bag the contract.
Space agency chief Bill Nelson said that competition “leads to better and more reliable outcomes”.
“It benefits the American people,” he added, speaking during a press conference.
Proposals for the second lander will be entered this spring.
But Musk’s SpaceX will be unable to bid for the contract, having already won last year’s deal.
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This post first appeared on Thesun.co.uk
