NASA Opens the Door to More Moon Lander Ideas

NASA will seek more lunar lander concepts because SpaceX is behind schedule developing the Starship lander. Although SpaceX was originally contracted to provide the Artemis III human landing system, recent delays have increased schedule risk. Therefore, NASA will invite other U.S. aerospace firms to submit proposals and to build redundancy for crewed lunar missions.

Blue Origin and Lockheed Martin are likely competitors and Blue Origin already has a separate NASA contract to develop a human lander for Artemis V, awarded May 19, 2023. A confirmation review noted a 70% joint confidence level for the lander schedule baseline, which implies meaningful schedule risk. SpaceNews and agency assessments have shown that the project schedule carries significant uncertainty, so NASA is pursuing additional options to increase resilience. Furthermore, multiple providers could enhance safety, reduce single-point failure risk, and support a steady cadence of lunar landings near the south pole.

This approach aims to protect astronaut timelines while allowing industry time to mature designs. The agency will evaluate technical plans, safety measures, and schedule realism when it considers new proposals.