NASA has signed contracts worth a total of over $590 million with three American companies to build robotic landing modules that will support the lunar exploration program. Bloomberg reports, writes UNN.
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The largest contract was awarded to Astrobotic Technology – about $298 million. Another $144 million was allocated to Firefly Aerospace, and $148 million to Intuitive Machines.
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In addition, NASA is considering sending an experimental lunar rover*Promise to the Moon for mapping and scientific research.
We have the equipment, and this is exactly what we should be trying to achieve – to ensure victories, to bring capabilities like Promise to the lunar surface
Astrobotic plans to launch the new landing module in late 2026 or early 2027. It will be an upgraded version of the Peregrine spacecraft, whose mission ended in failure in 2024.
The new contracts are part of the Artemis program, under which NASA plans to return humans to the Moon and establish a permanent infrastructure there. The landing of astronauts on the lunar surface is currently scheduled for 2028.
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