Bezos' Blue Origin wins contract with NASA to develop moon landing module

Billionaire Jeff Bezos-owned Blue Origin has awarded NASA a $3.4 billion contract to develop a lander for the Artemis mission to the moon. Earlier, the agency had already agreed to build a lander, which will be used on another stage of the mission, with Elon Musk's SpaceX.
Blue Origin, owned by billionaire Jeff Bezos, has signed a contract with NASA to develop a lander for the Artemis mission to the moon. On the NASA website, there is a statement that states this.

The contract calls for Blue Origin to develop and test a lander that will take astronauts to the surface of the moon. The module will be used first in a demonstration flight to the Moon without astronauts, and then in the manned Artemis V mission scheduled for 2029. Under the terms of the contract, Blue Origin will receive $ 3.4 billion, but the project is estimated at more than $ 7 billion, the company will cover the rest of this amount itself, CNBC notes.

Blue Origin is not the only company with which NASA has agreed to cooperate on the Artemis mission. Earlier, the agency signed a contract with Elon Musk's SpaceX, which will develop a lander for the Artemis III and Artemis IV missions. The agency explained that it has signed contracts for the construction of landers with two different companies, because "they have different approaches to performing NASA tasks, which will provide greater reliability and ensure the regularity of landings on the moon."

“Now is the golden age of manned spaceflight, made possible by NASA's commercial and international partners,” said agency director Bill Nelson after the contract was awarded.
As part of the Artemis mission, NASA plans to send astronauts, including a woman, to the moon. "Thanks to Artemis, NASA is exploring the Moon more than ever before, allowing the agency to make many scientific discoveries and prepare a future mission to Mars," NASA said in a statement.