Blue Origin Emerges As Contender For NASA's Artemis 3 Lunar Lander Amid SpaceX Delays

NASA's Artemis 3 mission, aimed at returning humans to the lunar surface, is facing a critical juncture. The agency is reassessing its lunar lander options due to significant delays plaguing SpaceX's Starship Human Landing System (HLS). Amidst this uncertainty, Blue Origin, led by Jeff Bezos, has emerged as a leading contender to provide a lander for the mission.

Blue Origin's progress on its Blue Moon Mark 1 (MK1) and Blue Moon Mark 2 (MK2) landers was recently highlighted by Jacqueline Cortese, the company's Senior Director of Civil Space, at the American Astronautical Society's 2025 von Braun Space Exploration Symposium. According to Cortese, Blue Origin is poised to launch an MK1 demonstration mission before the end of the year.

This cargo lander is designed to ferry up to 3 tons of payload to the lunar surface and serves as a stepping stone to the MK2 crew lander. The MK2 lander could potentially replace SpaceX's Starship HLS as the Artemis 3 lander if it is ready first. Cortese mentioned that Blue Origin has been exploring an incremental approach that could accelerate the development process.

With SpaceX's lunar lander for NASA's Artemis 3 mission facing significant delays, the agency is looking to competitors who could provide a lander ...

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