After losing to Elon Musk’s SpaceX in 2021, Jeff Bezo’s Blue Origin can get a second chance. In its search for a second lunar lander as a backup, NASA is now accepting offers from companies including Blue Origin.

What happened: On Tuesday, Blue Origin announced that it had been selected to present a lunar lander to NASA. Lockheed Martin Corp LMT and Boeing Co B.A will be working with Bezo’s space company on this project.
NASA is expected to make a decision in June 2023, Reuters reported.

Blue Origin’s original proposal was rejected in 2021 when it lost to SpaceX. That didn’t sit well, and Blue Origin filed a lawsuit in the US Court of Federal Claims against NASA, which lost Blue Origin.

Why it matters: SpaceX was selected by NASA last year to develop the first commercial human lander as part of NASA’s Artemis program. The lander will carry two American astronauts to the lunar surface from the Orion spacecraft, which is orbiting with two other astronauts.

After about a week of exploring the surface, the astronauts will board the lander for the journey to Orion and then return to Earth.

Continue reading: After meeting Elon Musk, the Japanese billionaire ready for a “big announcement” in space

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