Astrobotic, Intuitive Machines and Orbit Beyond are the first companies chosen by NASA to deliver science and technology payloads as part of the Artemis moon mission. The mission will launch from Kennedy Space Center in Florida on a United Launch Alliance Delta IV Heavy rocket at 7:45 a.m. EDT (0715 GMT) on Oct. 5, with an unmanned spacecraft named Artemis, carrying In their submissions, the firms proposed how to take a variety of equipment to the moon in preparation for a human mission planned for 2024. Astrobotic is to take 14 payloads to the Lacus Mortis crater by July 2021, while Intuitive Machines will fly five payloads to the Oceanus Procellarum dark spot, and Orbit Beyond will take equipment to a crater on the Mare Imbrium.
Astrobotic, Intuitive Machines and Orbit Beyond are the first companies chosen by NASA to deliver science and technology payloads as part of the Artemis moon mission. The contracts are worth a total of $253m. In their submissions, the firms proposed how to take a variety of equipment to the moon in preparation for a human mission planned for 2024. Astrobotic is to take 14 payloads to the Lacus Mortis crater by July 2021, while Intuitive Machines will fly five payloads to the Oceanus Procellarum dark spot, and Orbit Beyond will take equipment to a crater on the Mare Imbrium.