NASA and SpaceX
Private space company, SpaceX, owned by Elon Musk has won a much-coveted NASA contract to build a moon lander. On the 16th April 2021, NASA confirmed that SpaceX alone would be awarded the contract, it was previously expected to be shared between two separate companies given the scope and nature of the contract.
Elon Musk’s company, SpaceX, will now build the lunar landing system that will transport astronauts from the lunar orbit to the surface of the moon. This will the first lunar landing system for humans since the Apollo program. NASA was impressed with the ‘Starship’ design submitted by SpaceX. Starship will the first commercial human lander NASA will use for its Artemis space program. It is expected that it will take the first woman and person of color to the moon, so it is not only innovative in space-program terms but also ground-breaking when it comes to the inclusivity of human space exploration.
Other high-profile contenders who were bidding for the NASA contract included other notorious space billionaires including Jeff Bezos who was hoping his Blue Origin proposal would win the contract.
SpaceX
SpaceX is the private spaceflight company owned by Elon Musk. Being chosen by NASA to build and deliver the landing is a great boost for SpaceX who is now tasked with delivering one of the most ambitious spacecraft designs in space program history. It is also a step forward in sustainable space exploration as the Starship is designed to be a completely reusable launch and lander making it cheaper to run.
NASA has confirmed that society not only needs to find a path to space exploration, but also ‘sustainable lunar exploration’.
Musk has pledged that he will be flying people to space by 2023, and Yasuka Maezawa, a Japanese billionaire, has already paid for a flight around the moon on Starship.
Society Is Destined For Space
For Elon Musk, this is undoubtedly a great win in his quest to ensure that society continues its quest to explore and learn more about space. The SpaceX and NASA collaboration is now the highest-profile partnership in the human spaceflight genre.
Here at Rocketmansocialclub we believe that society is destined for space. Biden’s commitment to the space program is a step forward in realizing this vision, despite Congress not providing the required funding as yet.
Starship
As a human landing system, Starship will not only ferry crew but will also carry equipment and supplies between the craft in lunar orbit and the surface of the moon.
The plan is for the astronauts to be launched into orbit by NASA on their Space Launch System and then the crew will transfer to Starship to continue their onward journey to the moon.
Our Thoughts
Figure 2 Interplanetary space travel
It will be interesting to see how Starship develops. To date, since January 2020 SpaceX has developed 10 prototypes of Starship and many of them have exploded during testing. SpaceX will have to continue testing until they are sure that the launch with humans will be successful.
However, if SpaceX manages to launch successfully then this bodes well for further space exploration as the architecture of Spaceship is designed to travel to the moon and Mars, and other destinations in space. SpaceX certainly seems to be driving forward the idea of interplanetary human travel, turning it from a concept into a reality. The magnitude of Starship’s vision should not be overlooked. Elon Musk is keen to be selling Starship flights to the moon that are accessible and sustainable, fundamentally altering our relationship and equation with space.