Capitalism in space: NASA today announced the award of contracts to three different private companies to develop manned lunar landers for the 2024 Artemis Moon mission, all of which will not use the SLS rocket to get to the Moon.
The press release described the awards as follows:
Blue Origin of Kent, Washington, is developing the Integrated Lander Vehicle (ILV) – a three-stage lander to be launched on its own New Glenn Rocket System and ULA Vulcan launch system. Dynetics (a Leidos company) of Huntsville, Alabama, is developing the Dynetics Human Landing System (DHLS) – a single structure providing the ascent and descent capabilities that will launch on the ULA Vulcan launch system. SpaceX of Hawthorne, California, is developing the Starship – a fully integrated lander that will use the SpaceX Super Heavy rocket.
All, including NASA and the Trump administration, are aiming to get these landers built and launched by the Trump administration’s 2024 deadline.
The first thing that stands out like a beacon is the exclusion of SLS as the rocket to launch any of these landers. Instead, the aim is to use the cheaper privately built rockets of either SpaceX, ULA, or Blue Origin
Would be pretty awesome if they're able to put men on the moon again before the end of Trump's presidency. Would make a great capstone achievement for his presidency, and our country.
Okay that cache isn't it. It's beautiful. A sort of 3D globe of a map that you can twirl and see all the various types of geology. We aren't going to run out of phosphorus and and have a plentiful supply of rare earths to boot!
https://behindtheblack.com/behind-the-black/points-of-information/nasa-contract-award-for-manned-lunar-landers-rejects-sls/