After Blue Origin rocket explosion, NASA’s entire moon exploration program depends on SpaceX for now as Musk eyes blockbuster IPO soon
With a record-breaking IPO in just a few weeks, SpaceX The contest to set astronauts on the lunar surface ablaze saw his rival cement his dominance in the space race and his primacy in NASA’s plans to return to the moon.
A New Glenn rocket from Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin on Thursday engine exploded during ignition test On the launch pad at Cape Canaveral ahead of the satellite launch planned for next week.
Blue Origin also planned to use the rocket to launch lunar landers for NASA and deliver payloads and astronauts to the surface. SpaceX is also vying to be selected by NASA for the moon mission and may emerge as the only remaining option to meet an ambitious schedule.
The vulnerability highlights the multitude of steps and contractors a moon landing will require. NASA successfully sent astronauts around the Moon last month. LockheedMartin The Orion capsule, launched by Boeing’s massive Space Launch System rocket, requires a separate spacecraft to land on the lunar surface.
Next year, NASA plans to send astronauts into Earth orbit via Orion and the Space Launch System as part of the Artemis III mission. While in orbit, NASA expected to dock Orion with SpaceX’s lunar lander, a variant of Starship, and/or Blue Origin’s lander Blue Moon.
But New Glenn is supposed to launch the Blue Moon into space, and the rocket has now been grounded while the cause of the explosion is investigated. Just days before the explosion, NASA signed the Blue Origin launch contracts; This includes a Blue Moon lander mission this fall to bring NASA payloads to the surface.
“Blue Origin’s failure to launch Blue Moon anytime soon will likely knock the company out of the running for Artemis III,” wrote Wendy Whitman Cobb, a professor at the U.S. Air Force School of Advanced Aerospace Exploration. inside Speech on Friday. “This setback means Artemis III and NASA’s entire lunar exploration program will likely be dependent on SpaceX for now.”
Meanwhile, SpaceX is still developing Starship. While the next-generation version of the giant rocket completed a largely successful test flight this month, more work is needed to produce a lunar-landing variant.
Whitman Cobb warned that if SpaceX can’t get Starship ready on time, NASA may have to postpone the Artemis III orbital docking test by a year to 2028; This means Artemis IV’s mission to put astronauts on the moon will miss its 2028 timeline.
If New Glenn can get back on track and test the lunar lander soon, further delays could open the door to Blue Origin again.
