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Jeff Bezos Unveils New Blue Moon Lander Mock-Up for NASA's Artemis Program

Blue Origin releases near-complete mock-up of Blue Moon Mark 1 lunar cargo lander, part of a $3.4 billion contract for NASA's Artemis mission, aimed at enabling transportation of up to three metric tons of cargo to the moon, and fostering sustainable human space exploration by the end of the decade.

Overview

  • Blue Origin has unveiled a mock-up of the Blue Moon Mark 1 lander, showing it to NASA officials at the company's engine production facility. The vehicle is large and is engineered to utilize the 23-foot-wide payload volume on Blue Origin's New Glenn rocket.
  • The Mark 1 variant of the Blue Moon lander, designed to deliver up to 3 metric tons of cargo to any location on the lunar surface, is being developed as a predecessor to the larger Mark 2 lander, slated to transport astronauts to and from the lunar surface under a NASA contract.
  • Blue Origin is expected to be responsible for transporting astronauts between lunar orbit and the moon and back into space on the Artemis V mission, with the scheduled mission date no sooner than 2029, but likely pushing into the 2030s.
  • The company's first mission in the series, MK1-SN001 or the Pathfinder Mission, will serve as a critical demonstration, testing key systems such as the BE-7 engine, cryogenic fluid power, propulsion systems, avionics, continuous downlink communications, and precision landing.
  • Blue Origin's lunar lander is set to play a critical role in NASA’s crewed Artemis 5 mission, scheduled for 2029. The company won a contract with NASA in May, providing a second option for crewed lunar landings in addition to SpaceX’s Starship spacecraft. The first two crewed lunar landings (Artemis 3 and 4) are to be handled by SpaceX, set for as early as 2025 and 2028 respectively.