NASA requests proposals for 2nd moon lander for Artemis astronauts

The private industry is being asked to come up with ideas.

A program called Artemis is being used by the space agency to establish a long-term human presence on and around the moon by 2020. The program's first crewed surface mission, called Artemis 3, is scheduled to land near the moon's south pole in the year 2025.

In March of this year, agency officials said that they planned to encourage the development of a second crewed lander for Artemis to give it more resilience. The plan became official when NASA called for proposals.

NASA has a program to explore the moon.

The Human Landing System Program at NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center in Alabama said that work done under this solicitation will help build the foundation for long-term deep space exploration.

Partnering with American companies allows us to leverage NASA's knowledge and expertise to encourage technological innovations for a sustained presence at the moon.

The final call for NASA's new solicitation was released today after the agency held a virtual industry day about it in April. The proposals need to be submitted by November 15. The companies that are selected will have to perform two flights to the moon.

The crewed test flight is part of the Artemis 3 mission, which is why the contract with NASA has the same requirement.

NASA wants Starship to be a part of the Artemis program for a long time. NASA officials said in today's statement that they plan to exercise an option in SpaceX's existing contract, asking the company to evolve its Artemis 3 Starship design to meet an extended set of requirements for sustaining missions at the moon.

The Artemis program could get a lot of attention in a few days. The program's first-ever test flight will use a Space Launch System rocket to send an uncrewed capsule to the moon.

The launch of Artemis 1 was delayed several times due to technical problems. The launch is planned for September 27.

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