WASHINGTON, November 15, 2022 /PRNewswire/ — NASA has granted SpaceX an amendment contract to further develop its Starship manned landing system to meet agency requirements for long-term manned exploration of the Moon under Artemis.

With this addition, SpaceX will deploy a second manned landing demonstration mission in 2027 as part of NASA’s Artemis IV mission.

“Returning astronauts to the moon to learn, live and work is a bold undertaking. With several landers planned by SpaceX and future partners, NASA will be better positioned to fulfill tomorrow’s missions: do more science on the moon’s surface than ever before and prepare for manned missions to Mars,” NASA said -Administrator Bill Nelson.

The modification, known as Option B, follows an award to SpaceX in July 2021 as part of the Next Space Technologies for Exploration Partnerships-2 (NextSTEP-2) Schedule H Option A Contract. NASA before announced plans to pursue this Option B with SpaceX.

“Continuing our collaboration with SpaceX through Option B advances our robust plans for regular manned transport to the lunar surface and establishing a long-term human presence under Artemis,” he said Lisa Watson MorganManager of the Human Landing System program at NASA Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama. “This important work will help us focus on developing sustainable, service-based lunar landers aligned with NASA’s requirements for recurring missions to the lunar surface.”

The goal of this new work under Option B is to develop and demonstrate a Starship lunar lander that meets NASA requirements for missions beyond Artemis III, including docking Goalwhich accommodates four crew members and carries more mass to the surface.

NASA initially selected SpaceX to develop a human landing system variant of Starship to land the next American astronauts under Artemis III on the moon, which will mark humanity’s first return to the moon…