Tag: CLPS
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Firefly to build U.S. version of Israeli Beresheet lunar lander
Artist’s illustration of the Genesis lunar lander. Credit: Firefly Aerospace Firefly Aerospace, a Texas-based company which is already developing a small satellite launcher, has signed an agreement with Israel Aerospace Industries to build lunar landers in the United States and carry NASA science instruments to the moon, officials announced Tuesday. The agreement will permit Firefly…
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10 years since its launch, NASA lunar orbiter remains crucial for moon landings
Artist’s concept of the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter. Credit: NASA Scientists marked the 10th anniversary of the launch of NASA’s Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter on Tuesday, celebrating a mission that has greatly outlived its original one-year design life and continues taking high-resolution pictures to help U.S. companies and international space agencies select destinations for moon landers. LRO…
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NASA picks three companies to send commercial landers to the moon
Artist’s concept of Astrobotic’s Peregrine lunar lander. Credit: Astrobotic 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. The three companies are developing commercial lunar…
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NASA to soon announce winner of first commercial lunar lander competition
Artist’s concept of Astrobotic’s Peregrine lander. Credit: Astrobotic 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…
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Israeli moon lander prepared for launch
The completed SpaceIL Beresheet lunar lander is pictured with its solar panels attached. Credit: SpaceIL The privately-funded Israeli Beresheet lunar lander is ready for its historic mission to the moon, aiming to become the first space probe to land on another planetary body without government funding. Funded by philanthropists and donors, the Beresheet lunar lander…
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NASA picks nine companies to compete for commercial lunar lander missions
A concept illustration of Lockheed Martin’s McCandless lunar lnader for NASA’s Commercial Lunar Payloads Services (CLPS) program. Credit: NASA/Lockheed Martin 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…