NASA CLPS Lunar Lander Providers Astrobotic and Intuitive Machines Advancing Moon Exploration and Commerce
Recipients of first 3 CLPS Task Orders, scheduled to land on Moon within 2022, Astrobotic of Pittsburgh (TO-1 / Lacus Mortis / US$79.5M) and Intuitive Machines of Houston (TO-2 / Vallis Schröteri / $77M, TO-3 / MSP / $47M) leading effort to return USA robotic landers to Moon surface; Astrobotic awaiting flight readiness of ULA Vulcan Centaur, itself waiting on pair of Blue Origin BE-4 engines reportedly on track for delivery, enabling 2022 launch per ULA CEO; Intuitive Machines CTO tells panel at SXSW that Houston is “the place to be” to benefit from space commercialization; Pennsylvania Gov Tom Wolf and U.S. Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo tout Astrobotic / CMU economic benefits to region