NASA awarded the billionaire entrepreneur Elon Musk's company SpaceX a $2.9 billion contract to build a spacecraft to bring astronauts to the moon in 2024, the agency said on Friday, picking it over Jeff Bezos' Blue Origin and defense contractor Dynetics Inc.
Bezos and Musk - the richest people in the world and the third richest people in a row, according to Forbes - were competing to lead the return of mankind to the moon for the first time in 1972.
Musk's SpaceX bid is one while the founder of Amazon.com (AMZN.O) is Bezos's Blue Origin collaborating with Lokheed Martin Corp (LMT.N), Northrop Grumman Corp (NOC.N) and Draper. Dynetics is a unit of Leidos Holdings Inc. (LDOS.N)
"NASA rules !!" Musk wrote on Twitter after the announcement.
The U.S. space agency It awarded the contract of the first human trafficking employer, part of its Artemis plan. NASA said the landlord would take two American astronauts to the moon.
"We have to sit down as soon as possible," said Steve Jurczyk, NASA's acting chief of staff, during the announcement of the video conference.
"If they hit their movements, we will shoot in 2024," Jurczyk said.
NASA said Sparkship's Starship includes a spacious cabinet with two astronaut lunar airlocks and that its construction aims to transform into a fully functional launch and planning system designed to travel to the Moon, Mars and other spaceships.
SpaceX also responded to Twitter, writing, "We are humbled to help @NASAArtemis start a new era of space exploration."
In contrast to the decline of Apollo from 1969 to 1972 - the only human visit on the face of the moon - NASA is preparing for the long-awaited lunar eclipse that is thought to be a stepping stone to space travel on Mars. NASA relies heavily on private companies built on shared space exploration ideas.
SpaceX will have to check the plane of the one who arrived on the moon before people took off, NASA chief Lisa Watson-Morgan told reporters.
NASA was expected to win the corporate competition at two companies by the end of April, but instead took only SpaceX, a step that strengthened their partnership. On Thursday, NASA said it would send its crew to the International Space Station to board the SpaceX rocket on April 22.
The organization aims to create a standard service for the month and has said it will have a separate competition for that contract.
"We need to be able to provide continuous monthly services," said Mark Kirasich, deputy director at NASA's Advanced Exploration Systems unit.
The announcement added to the extraordinary rush of Musk, who has become a car maker of Tesla Inc. (TSLA.O) became the world's most important car manufacturer, with a market capitalization of $ 702 billion.
Musk has become a combination of one-person technology, launching or controlling airlines, electric vehicles, neural implants and an underground tunnel.
The factor in choosing SpaceX "was the best value for the government," said Kathy Lueders, NASA's Human Exploration and Operations Mission Directorate.
NASA has reported that SpaceX's HLS Starship, designed to land on the moon, "relies on the company's Raptor-tested engines and the aircraft fleet of Falcon and Dragon aircraft."
NASA's decision has been to bring back Bezos, a lifelong astronaut who is now heavily focused on his business after announcing in February that he would step down as CEO of Amazon.
The contract was seen by Bezos and other executives as important to Blue Origin to establish itself as NASA's preferred partner, and to put the business on a profit margin.
Musk has unveiled a promising agenda for SpaceX and its non-renewable rockets, including human settlement on Mars. But in the near future, the core business of SpaceX was developing Musk Starlink's online activity satellites, as well as other satellites and space equipment. SpaceX announced on Wednesday that it had raised about $ 1.16 billion in equity payments. Learn more
An unused RockX Spacehip rocket failed to arrive safely on March 30 after the launch of a test from Boca Chica, Texas. The Starship was not one of the series of high-performance rocket models developed by SpaceX to carry people and 100 tons of cargo on the upcoming trip to the moon and Mars. The first Orbital Starship flight is scheduled for the end of the year.
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