Blue Origin Wins NASA Lunar Lander Contract for Artemis V

NASA selected Blue Origin to build a human landing system for the Artemis V mission, awarding the Kent, Washington company a $3.4 billion firm fixed price contract as the second lunar lander provider alongside SpaceX.

Blue Origin's Blue Moon lander will dock with the Gateway space station in lunar orbit, where two astronauts will transfer aboard for a weeklong mission to the Moon's South Pole region.

The plan calls for one uncrewed demonstration landing before the crewed Artemis V flight, which is currently targeted for 2029.

NASA's Space Launch System rocket will send four astronauts to lunar orbit aboard the Orion spacecraft, and the Blue Origin contract complements SpaceX's existing awards for the Artemis III and IV missions.

Agency officials said the dual provider approach is designed to add competition, reduce costs, drive innovation, and support recurring landings toward a sustainable lunar economy.

NASA Administrator Bill Nelson called the moment a golden age of human spaceflight made possible by the agency's commercial partnerships.

The $3.4 billion second lander was bought as a hedge, and the hedge is now being tested. NASA has pushed the first crewed landing to Artemis IV in 2028 and rebuilt Artemis III as an Earth orbit docking test with prototypes of both Blue Moon Mark 2 and Starship, naming a crew on June 9 for a mid 2027 flight, SpaceNews reports. Then New Glenn exploded on its Cape Canaveral pad on May 28, and Administrator Jared Isaacman said NASA wants the Mark 1 cargo lander on another rocket, though it was sized for New Glenn's seven meter fairing, per Spaceflight Now. Blue Origin promises to fly again before the end of 2026; Artemis III waits on it.