Insta
NASA’s First Moon Lander Of The 21st Century To Be Designed In India
Swarajya Staff
Jun 06, 2019, 03:27 PM | Updated 03:27 PM IST
Save & read from anywhere!
Bookmark stories for easy access on any device or the Swarajya app.
The first moon lander which NASA will use in the 21st century would be designed and engineered by private aerospace company Team Indus as part of the Orbit Beyond consortium which has been awarded a contract for the 2021 lunar mission, Quartz has reported.
NASA in total would spend around $250 million to award contracts to private companies for transporting scientific missions to the moon which include - Astrobotic, Intuitive Machines, and Orbit Beyond. This initiative is part of NASA’s Commercial Lunar Payload Services (CLPS) program.
Orbit Beyond comprises of a total of nine companies one of which is Team Indus which was formed in 2010 to take part in Google’s Lunar XPrize which involved sending a robot to the moon. This team would be responsible for designing the lander.
“When I say we are buying a ride, that’s literally what we are doing,” said Steve Clark, who leads NASA’s exploration programs. He added that the private companies would be responsible for both launching and landing the moon lander.
Update: This article has been edited after Team Indus reached out to us to clarify that they would be handling the design and engineering of the lander, which will ultimately be manufactured in the US
Save & read from anywhere!
Bookmark stories for easy access on any device or the Swarajya app.
Support Swarajya's 50 Ground Reports Project & Sponsor A Story
Every general election Swarajya does a 50 ground reports project.
Aimed only at serious readers and those who appreciate the nuances of political undercurrents, the project provides a sense of India's electoral landscape. As you know, these reports are produced after considerable investment of travel, time and effort on the ground.
This time too we've kicked off the project in style and have covered over 30 constituencies already. If you're someone who appreciates such work and have enjoyed our coverage please consider sponsoring a ground report for just Rs 2999 to Rs 19,999 - it goes a long way in helping us produce more quality reportage.
You can also back this project by becoming a subscriber for as little as Rs 999 - so do click on this links and choose a plan that suits you and back us.
Click below to contribute.