NASA had an agreement with SpaceX to provide the lunar lander. However, then-acting NASA administrator Sean Duffy reopened the mission to competition.
Blue Origin decided to shift its focus from the edge of space to the Moon.
The company announced on Jan. 30 that it was pausing all of its suborbital commercial flights on its reusable New Shepard rocket for no less than two years in order to focus more resources on delivering a crewed lunar lander to NASA in time to meet Congress’s set deadline to establish a permanent human presence on or around the moon by 2030.
“The decision reflects Blue Origin’s commitment to the nation’s goal of returning to the Moon and establishing a permanent, sustained lunar presence,” the company said in a statement.
January saw Blue Origin achieve successes on both fronts. Its Blue Moon MK-1 lander Endurance was shipped from its assembly facility at Cape Canaveral to Johnson Space Center in Houston on Jan. 20 to undergo critical testing.
“Named for Ernest Shackleton’s legendary ship that journeyed to Earth’s South Pole, MK1 honors resilience under pressure,” Blue Origin said on X. ”That same spirit of perseverance guides our mission to the lunar South Pole.”
The MK-1 lander is the first phase of Blue Origin’s plan. Designed as an unmanned cargo transport, the company explained on its website that this first one will be used for what it called the “Pathfinder Mission.”
That will be a demonstration mission that proves out the critical systems of both the lander and the New Glenn rocket that will carry it. Along with propulsion, communications, and avionics, this mission must also demonstrate a precision landing within 100 meters of a chosen site. This was intended to occur before NASA’s uncrewed Human Landing System mission for the Artemis Program.
In its full form, the MK-1 will enter commercial service as a lunar cargo lander designed to remain on the lunar surface and provide affordable, safe, and reliable access to the Moon.
MK-2 will be a crewed landing craft built and operated in accordance with NASA standards.
By T.J. Muscaro
