NASA allocates $146 million to make modifications to the design of the lunar platform

NASA has chosen 5 American companies to contribute to the studies of the use of a capsule (landing platform) that will land in the future on the moon. On the NASA website, the value of the studies and designs deal with the companies amounted to 246 million dollars.

NASA said Blue Origin, Dynetics, SpaceX, Lockheed Martin, and Northrop Grumman will make modifications to the landing platform design. As part of the deal, BlueOrigin received $35.6 million, while SpaceX will get $9.4 million, and these companies, according to NASA, will evaluate the effectiveness of the platform and issues related to its safety when landing on the moon. It will also test some of its components and make modifications to its design, which will make, according to NASA, the process of landing on the surface of the moon safer.

It is noteworthy that last April, NASA announced the signing of a $2.9 billion deal to design a lunar landing platform with SpaceX, but the American company “Blue Origin” filed a complaint against NASA with the US Congress, accusing it of not following the principle of competition that it had previously announced. When choosing companies that will design the equipment for landing on the moon. NASA was forced to suspend implementation of the deal until Congress completed consideration of the complaint.

It is worth noting that NASA announced in the spring of 2019 that it had begun implementing the "Artemis" lunar program, which requires the landing of American astronauts in 2024 on the surface of the moon, but NASA Inspector General Paul Martin announced last August that the American manned lunar mission will be postponed due to the lack of readiness Lunar spacesuits.