Jeff Bezos has offered serious financial assistance to NASA in a bid to get his spaceflight company, Blue Origin, involved in the upcoming lunar missions.
Perhaps buoyed by his recent rocket ride to the edge of space, Amazon founder Jeff Bezos has offered to contribute several billions dollars to NASA’s coffers if it includes his spaceflight company, Blue Origin, in its plans for the upcoming Artemis moon missions. In an open letter sent to NASA chief Bill Nelson on Monday, July 26, Bezos offered budgetary assistance to the tune of $2 billion if the space agency lets Blue Origin build a moon lander for a crewed trip to the lunar surface that’s tentatively scheduled for 2024. Notably, the offer comes after NASA awarded the $2.9 billion contract for the Human Landing System (HLS) to SpaceX in April, a decision that was contested at the time by Blue Origin and another company, Dynetics. A decision on the challenge is expected in the coming days from the U.S. Government Accountability Office.
