NASA's Moon Dreams: Bezos Teams Up With Aerospace Heavyweights For Artemis Project

Blue Origin, as prime contractor, would provide the "descent element" vehicle based on its Blue Moon lunar lander that it announced in May AFP / SAUL LOEB

The space race is on and back in full swing. In Washington, the International Astronautical Congress is beginning its 70th gathering. Many eyes were facing the nation's capital today instead of politics; they were focusing on a new dream, returning to the Moon! This year marked the 50th anniversary of the first lunar Landing.

Jeff Bezos, the owner of Amazon and founder of Blue Origin, brought the fireworks! With the bid race beginning for NASA's Artemis program, Besos took off into the lead lap fast. He announced that three of the heavy hitters in aerospace would be teaming up. Draper Laboratories, Lockheed Martin and Northrop Grumman will all team up under the banner of Blue Origin to make this a success.

None of these three industry "titans" are strangers to the space race. Blue Origin is the newcomer on the block. However, by teaming up, the friction of competition is reduced. Blue Origin will lead the lunar lander team. They will provide the descent element. Lockheed Martin will build a reusable ascent element. Northrop Grumman will provide a transfer element for the lunar lander. Draper Laboratories will provide guidance and telemetry for the whole thing.

Blue Origin New Shepard — Blue Origin's New Shepard rocket on the launch pad at the company's test site in Texas, April 29, 2018. Blue Origin

Blue Origin has been hard at work since 2016 in building the "Blue Moon" lander. In 2017 the lander concept was revealed to the public. The Lander is said to be extremely versatile able to launch with a number of rocket varieties. It has its own engine called the BE-7. Spec sheets show that the lander weighs 9900 lbs. alone. A new variant has been designed to carry passengers. By teaming up with other industry specialists, all phases of the team will be able to perfect their portion of the project.

With a baseline of expenses ranging up to $30 billion, NASA's Artemis project is quite the undertaking. As of now, there are no extra federal funds that have been set aside for the space program in the current budget. In May, NASA requested an additional $1.6 billion in the 2020 budget to support this venture.

Fiscal costs aside, Jeff Bezos stoked national pride, saying, "We could not ask for better partners. This is a national team for a national priority." Watching Americans return to the moon would be a fantastic sight!