Private Companies Are Spreading Their Wings. Who Will Take Americans Back to the Moon?

The modern-day race to the Moon is not between superpowers but among private companies which are competing for NASA contracts. These companies are willing to invest their own money to achieve this ambitious goal. Who are the people behind these companies? What benefits would such space companies as Astrobotic, Intuitive Machines, OrbitBeyond and Firefly Aerospace receive by traveling to the moon?

After the triumph of the Apollo program, the U.S. space program was in the shadows for some time. NASA's budget was significantly reduced and the agency itself was criticized for wasteful spending. Today, a new golden age has arrived in space travel. This is due to several factors.

One is that NASA has a new long-term goal: to send astronauts to Mars. As would be expected, the ambitious plan was divided into separate stages and one of the first is to return humans to the surface of the Moon.

Another important factor is the change in NASA's approach to project management. The space agency no longer puts "all its eggs in one basket." It does not fund projects whose cost could rise to unpredictable levels. Instead, private companies are offered development money and several guaranteed orders at a fixed price. All other contracts must be arranged by the various companies themselves. In addition, they must pay for any cost overruns. 

Cargo taxis to the Moon  

NASA plans to return American astronauts to the Moon in 2024. However, the bridgehead for astronauts to land on the Moon will be prepared by unmanned missions that will conduct scientific experiments and test technology. NASA will work with several private U.S. companies under the Commercial Lunar Payload Services (CLPS) program to deliver cargo to the surface of the Moon.

These companies of various sizes must ensure the entire process of cargo delivery: integration, launch from Earth and a successful landing on the Moon. The first deliveries are scheduled for 2021.

There are nine companies that NASA plans to work with. These are: Astrobotic Technology, Deep Space Systems, Draper Laboratory, Firefly Aerospace, Intuitive Machines, Lockheed Martin Space, Masten Space Systems, Moon Express and OrbitBeyond. In May 2019, NASA selected the first three contractors: Astrobotic, Intuitive Machines and OrbitBeyond.

Astrobotic was a participant in the Google Lunar XPRIZE competition with a prize fund of $30 million. Under the terms of the competition, which began in 2007, participants had to send a self-propelled vehicle to the moon. After a soft landing, the vehicle had to travel 500 meters and transmit high-resolution photos and videos to Earth from the surface of the Moon. The competition ended in failure in 2018 as none of the private teams were able to launch their lunar rover.

Astrobotic, which was considered a favorite, withdrew from the competition in December 2016 and decided instead to focus on finding commercial customers for its landing gear.

Peregrine lunar lander

Under its contract with NASA, Astrobotic is expected to launch its Peregrine lander in June 2021 as cargo on the Atlas V launch vehicle. Landing is scheduled for July 2021. The spacecraft will deliver up to 14 NASA instruments to the Lake of Death on the Moon surface for which Astrobotic will receive $79.5 million.

Interestingly, among the commercial cargo will be former competitors of Astrobotic for the Google Lunar XPRIZE:  rovers from Hakuto and Team AngelicvM.

NASA's second CLPS contract has been awarded to the Texas-based company Intuitive Machines, which intends to launch its Nova-C landing station in July 2021 on a Falcon 9 launch vehicle which will deliver four scientific devices. This is a $77 million contract.

Intuitive Machines' Nova-C lunar lander 

The third contract went to OrbitBeyond, which was to launch the Z-01 in September 2020 with a contract of $97 million. The Z-01 is an almost unchanged HHK1 developed by another Google Lunar XPRIZE contestant, TeamIndus of India. However, OrbitBeyond withdrew from the contract citing internal problems at the company.

Another Google Lunar XPRIZE contestant will be resuscitated by Firefly Aerospace. This is the Beresheet spacecraft by the Israeli company Israel Aerospace Industries. This is the only spacecraft from the participants of the competition which was sent to the Moon. However, it was launched after the competition period had ended. Due to an engine failure in April 2019, Beresheet did not reach the surface of the Moon. It had aimed to become the first private spacecraft to reach the lunar surface.

Firefly Aerospace is using the Beresheet design, with refinements to the basic technology. Agreements on the use of intellectual property have already been signed. The new device is called Genesis.

Firefly's Genesis moon lander

The technical characteristics of Genesis have not yet been disclosed, as well as the date of its possible launch. Firefly Aerospace, revived by international businessman Max Polyakov, is currently preparing for the first launch of the Firefly Alpha launch vehicle, which is scheduled for the summer of 2020. However, due to a delay in receiving components from suppliers because of the COVID-19 pandemic, the launch may be postponed for several months.

On April 8, 2020, NASA announced that Masten Space Systems will also receive a contract worth $75.9 million. In 2022, Masten Space Systems is expected to deliver nine scientific instruments to the lunar surface and plans to land near the South Pole using the XL-1. Technical details are currently unknown as is the unnamed launch vehicle they plan to use.

Masten Space Systems is a small aerospace company based in Mojave, California. It was founded in 2004. As of 2018, Masten Space Systems had only eight employees.

NASA later added five more companies to the list of CLPS contractors that could potentially provide payload delivery services to the lunar surface: Blue Origin, SpaceX, Ceres Robotics, Sierra Nevada Corporation, and Tyvak Nano-Satellite Systems.

Starting with the already planned missions for 2021, NASA plans to conclude contracts for at least two CLPS missions for each successive year thereafter.