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SpaceX Wins NASA Deal for Moon Lander as Musk Beats Out Bezos

Contract for $2.9 billion covers a test landing, one with crew
NASA seeks ‘lander services’ bidders for longer-term missions

An illustration of the SpaceX Starship human lander design that will carry NASA astronauts to the Moon's surface during the Artemis mission.Source: SpaceX

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By Justin Bachman and Brendan Case

April 16, 2021 at 9:02 PM UTC

Updated on

April 16, 2021 at 11:23 PM UTC

This article is for subscribers only.

Elon Musk’s Space Exploration Technologies Corp. won a NASA contract to develop a system for landing astronauts on the moon, beating out two other bidders, fellow billionaire Jeff Bezos’s Blue Origin and a unit of Leidos Holdings Inc.

NASA awarded the $2.9 billion human-lander contract on Friday after 10 months of development work. SpaceX’s contract covers two lunar landings: A test flight to the surface without crew followed by a trip carrying astronauts.