Orbit Beyond – Spaceflight Now

NASA terminates lunar lander contract with OrbitBeyond

July 30, 2019 Stephen Clark

NASA has terminated a $97 million contract with OrbitBeyond, a New Jersey-based company with plans to build robotic moon landers in Florida, just two months after announcing an agreement to send science instruments to the lunar surface as soon as next year.

NASA picks three companies to send commercial landers to the moon

June 4, 2019 Stephen Clark

NASA has announced that Astrobotic, Intuitive Machines and OrbitBeyond won contracts to deliver science instruments and technology demonstration payloads to the moon’s surface in the first of a series of robotic missions preceding a human return to the moon.

NASA to soon announce winner of first commercial lunar lander competition

May 21, 2019 Stephen Clark

Within days, NASA is expected to select a winner from a roster of nine eligible companies to try and become the first commercial entity to accomplish a soft landing on the moon with a robotic spacecraft. The privately-developed probe would be the vanguard in a series of unpiloted missions intended to deliver science instruments to the lunar surface and prepare for a human expedition as soon as 2024.

Q&A with Steve Clarke, deputy associate administrator for exploration in NASA’s science division (members only)

November 29, 2018 Stephen Clark

It’s Steve Clarke’s job to merge the goals of space scientists with NASA’s strategic plans for exploring the solar system, two factors which are not always in lock-step, as the space agency seeks to return humans to the moon, and eventually send astronauts to Mars.

NASA picks nine companies to compete for commercial lunar lander missions

November 29, 2018 Stephen Clark

NASA announced Thursday nine companies that will be eligible to compete for up to $2.6 billion in contracts over the next decade to ferry scientific instruments and tech demo payloads to the moon aboard commercial robotic landers, a first step in what agency officials said will foster expanded private investment in deep space exploration and an eventual return of humans to the lunar surface.