NASA awards up to $10 billion for lunar cargo and rover contracts
NASA said it has awarded up to $10 billion in contracts under its Commercial Lunar Payload Services program for lunar cargo delivery, a nuclear-powered rover and related infrastructure, advancing its goal of a permanent Moon base. The awards follow the agency’s earlier launch of a $10 billion competition that invited SpaceX, Blue Origin and six other firms to bid for delivery services to the Moon’s south pole, and a series of mission updates that expanded lunar delivery contracts and technology development.