NASA Selects Blue Origin And 10 Other Companies For Moon Exploration Technologies

In this photo illustration, logo of Blue Origin is displayed on mobile phone screen in front of NASA icon on February 27, 2023. Blue Origin was awarded $35 million to electrify the moon with lunar dust. (METIN AKTAS/GETTY IMAGES)

Billionaire Jeff Bezos‘ aerospace company Blue Origin was one among the 11 companies chosen by NASA on Tuesday to develop technologies that could support long-term exploration of the Moon and space.

National Aeronautics and Space Administration administrator Bill Nelson (L) shakes hands with Blue Origin Senior Vice President Michael Edmonds after a news conference with NASA Marshall Space Flight Center Human Landing System Program manager Lisa Watson-Morgan (3rd L) and NASA Exploration Systems Development Mission Directorate Associate Administrator Jim Free (R) where it was announced that Blue Origin has been awarded a $3.4 billion contract to build a second Human Landing System (HLS) that will fly on Artemis V during a news conference at NASA headquarters on May 19, 2023, in Washington, DC. The Blue Moon HLS vehicle will carry astronauts back and forth from the lunar surface in 2029 to The Gateway, a year-round space station and laboratory outpost that will orbit the moon and enable long-term deep space exploration. (CHIP SOMODEVILLA/GETTY IMAGES)