A rainbow forms next to the NASA Vehicle Assembly Building on Monday at the Kennedy Space Center, Fla. On Tuesday, NASA announced contracts for new lunar landers and cargo landers planned for upcoming missions to the moon. Photo by Joe Marino/UPI | License Photo
May 26 (UPI) -- On Tuesday, NASA announced contracts for new lunar landers and cargo landers planned for upcoming missions to the moon. The announcement took place at NASA's headquarters in Washington, D.C., and included information on some target launch dates and other moon base project milestones.
The agency selected private companies Astrolab and Lunar Outpost for developing lunar rover designs. Blue Origin, founded by Jeff Bezos, will provide robotic landers for these rovers.
NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman said the moon base will be "America's and humanity's first outpost on another celestial world."
"Every mission, crewed and uncrewed, will be a learning opportunity as we return to the lunar surface, build the infrastructure to stay and master the skills required to live and operate in one of the most demanding and dangerous environments imaginable," Isaacman said.
