NASA selects Jeff Bezos company for the Artemis V mission

The US National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) continues its preparations for the Artemis missions, which will take humanity to the Moon. In a statement released today, the agency announced which company will carry astronauts to the satellite in the Artemis V mission. NASA revealed that billionaire businessman Jeff Bezos’ space company, Blue Origin, has been selected. The agreement is said to be worth $3.4 billion. With NASA’s decision, Blue Origin’s Blue Moon landing vehicle concept has been rewarded with the task of developing a landing system for the Moon. The system, called Blue Moon, is expected to be used in the Artemis V mission, which is scheduled for 2029. If all goes according to plan, NASA will send a four-person crew to the Moon with the Orion capsule, with two of them using Blue Origin’s vehicle to conduct research on the surface. It is worth noting that Blue Origin works with leading aviation companies, including Lockheed Martin and Boeing.

This is not the first time that Blue Origin has competed for the Artemis missions. Bezos’ company had gone head-to-head with Elon Musk’s SpaceX for the Artemis III mission, which will be the first manned mission in 2021. NASA had awarded the $2.9 billion contract to SpaceX. NASA also announced that SpaceX’s landing vehicle would be used in Artemis IV. Following NASA’s decision in 2021, Blue Origin objected to the mission being awarded to only one company, even going so far as to file a lawsuit. However, its objections were dismissed, and it lost the case. With this latest decision, Blue Origin will have the opportunity to compete with SpaceX in the Artemis missions. NASA also stated that its new decision would increase competition.