Blue Origin’s First Lunar Lander to Carry NASA Payload to the Moon

NASA has awarded Blue Origin a $6.1 million contract to deliver a payload to the Moon’s South Pole in March 2025. The mission will be part of the Commercial Lunar Payload Services (CLPS) programme and should provide data for future Artemis missions and help develop safe human access to the Moon.

This information came to light from a procurement request that NASA posted on the official System for Award Management government website on 6 August. The website contains information on organisations that receive funding from the US government.

What’s In The Contract?

The document, prepared by NASA in conjunction with Johnson Space Centre (JSC), is called Justification For An Exception To Fair Opportunity (JEFO) and justifies awarding the contract to Blue Origin on an exception without competition. Notably, neither party has yet to officially comment on this matter or post this information on their website.

As stated in the document, NASA’s SCALPSS payload will be delivered to the South Pole of the Moon by the end of the calendar year 2025.

SCALPSS Payload Purposes

The SCALPSS payload is designed to study how landing module engines’ jets interact with lunar regolith.

The instrument is an array of cameras placed around the base of the lunar landing module. These cameras are set to collect images during and after the descent to the Moon. The photos will be analysed using stereophotogrammetry to produce a detailed three-dimensional image of the lunar surface.

The three-dimensional view will subsequently analyze the changes resulting from the interaction between the thruster plumes and the lunar surface. This data will then be used to validate computational and engineering models of the plume-surface interactions. Then, they can then be used in the design of future lunar lander missions. The interaction between the thruster plume and the lunar surface strongly correlates to the engines’ thrust levels.

The Third SCALPSS Mission To The Moon

The first was on the first Intuitive Machines landing module in February. The camera successfully passed all planned tests and collected limited data.

The second flight is scheduled for late 2024 on Firefly Aerospace’s Blue Ghost landing module.

However, NASA says the camera was installed on a module with engines capable of delivering at least 8,000 lbf of thrust.

Blue Moon Is Out Of The Competition

The simplified procurement process was mainly because Blue Origin had no competitors.

NASA concluded that this was the only commercial mission of a lunar landing module to the south pole of the Moon that met the technical requirements.

Blue Origin is the only company to have developed a Blue Moon lunar landing module, designated ‘MK1-SN001,’ with engine thrust above 8,000 lb-force. The company claims that the BE-7 engine, which it created for the landing module, can produce up to 10,000 lb-ft of thrust.

Blue Moon Construction Details

The spacecraft is 8.05 metres tall and 3.08 metres in diameter. Its fully fuelled, or wet, mass is up to 21,350 kilograms. Notably, the company previously said Blue Moon Mark 1 could deliver up to three tonnes of payload to the moon’s surface.

The three-story cargo landing module is emblazoned with a golden feather logo. It is being built at Blue Origin’s manufacturing facility in Huntsville, Alabama.

Blue Origin has named the demonstration mission Pathfinder. It will be lift off on a New Glenn rocket. The plan is for the Blue Moon to make about four revolutions after launching into low Earth orbit and undergo a series of tests.

Then, it will raise its apogee for additional tests, perform a manoeuvre to fly to the Moon, and, after five to seven days, enter low lunar orbit. In the lunar orbit, it will also conduct tests for several subsystems before landing on the Moon’s surface.

What’s Next?

The company is planning at least two flights of the Blue Moon Mark 1 lander as it works on the Mark 2 lander intended to carry people. Blue Origin won a $3.4 billion NASA contract in May 2023 to develop that lander as part of the Human Landing System (HLS) program, to be used on the Artemis 5 mission around the decade’s end. An uncrewed demonstration of the Mark 2 lander will precede that mission.