NASA, the American space agency, is preparing to explore the lunar surface with the Artemis campaign. As part of this effort, it announced in these hours, it intends to award Blue Origin and SpaceX additional tasks under existing contracts, aimed at developing landers capable of delivering large pieces of equipment and infrastructure to the lunar surface. The two companies will be asked to develop cargo versions of their human landing systems, currently in development for the Artemis III, Artemis IV and Artemis V missions.

The goal of the Artemis campaign is to explore more of the Moon than ever before, learn to live and work in space, and prepare for future missions to Mars. "A collaborative effort with international and industry partners", said Stephen D. Creech, deputy associate assistant administrator for engineering in NASA's Moon to Mars Program Office. "Having two lunar lander providers with different approaches to crew and payload landing capabilities provides mission flexibility while ensuring a regular cadence of lunar landings for continued discovery and additional science opportunities".

Specifically, SpaceX will have to send its Starship a remotely operated pressurized rover, currently under development by the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency, which is expected to land on the Moon no earlier than fiscal year 2032. Blue Origin, on the other hand, will have to be able to send a lunar habitat no earlier than fiscal year 2033, explained Lisa Watson-Morgan, manager of the Human Landing System program at NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama.

Regarding Mars exploration, the note concludes that the Space Launch System (SLS) rocket, Earth-based exploration systems, and the Orion spacecraft, along with commercial human landing systems, next-generation spacesuits, the Gateway lunar space station, and future rovers are NASA's foundation for deep space exploration.