/sci/ - Science & Math

https://www.nasa.gov/press-release/new-companies-join-growing-ranks-of-nasa-partners-for-artemis-program


NEW COMPANIES JOIN GROWING RANKS OF NASA PARTNERS FOR ARTEMIS PROGRAM:

>NASA has added five American companies to the pool of vendors that will be eligible to bid on proposals to provide deliveries to the surface of the Moon through the agency’s Commercial Lunar Payload Services (CLPS) initiative.

>The selected companies are:

Blue Origin
Ceres Robotics
Sierra Nevada Corporation
SpaceX
Tyvak Nano-Satellite Systems Inc

>In July, NASA announced an opportunity for American companies to propose lunar landers that can deliver heavier payloads to the surface of the Moon. These five companies, together with nine companies selected in November 2018, now are eligible to bid on launch and delivery services to the lunar surface. NASA already has awarded contracts to two vendors to send as many as 14 science payloads to the Moon in 2021 and expects to issue additional payload delivery orders.

>Future payloads could include rovers, power sources, science experiments – including the agency’s Volatiles Investigating Polar Exploration Rover (VIPER) – and technology demonstrations to be infused into the Artemis program. NASA expects to issue a regular series of task order proposal requests to expand the scope of agency payloads requiring transportation services to the lunar surface ahead of human exploration.

>The CLPS contracts are indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contracts with a combined maximum contract value of $2.6 billion through November 2028. The agency will look at a number of factors when comparing the bids from all vendors, such as technical feasibility, price and schedule.