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Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin unveils full-scale mock-up lunar lander that will take cargo to the Moon

According to the post's additional explanation, these landers soar into orbit atop New Glenn's 7-meter fairing. MK1 will have the carrying capacity to transport three metric tonnes to any point on the lunar surface.

Ushana Maji

New Delhi: On October 28, NASA Administrator Bill Nelson and Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin revealed their new Blue Moon MK1 lunar lander on social media. Blue Origin is presently building a 3-story cargo lander in Huntsville, Alabama. The lander will be emblazoned with the company’s signature golden feather emblem.

“We unveiled our nearly 3-story Blue Moon MK1 cargo lander demonstrator. MK1’s early missions will pave the way and prove technologies for our MK2 lander for @NASA’s Human Landing System. #ArtemisV,” according to a recent post on Blue Moon’s official X account.

According to the post’s additional explanation, these landers soar into orbit atop New Glenn’s 7-meter fairing. MK1 will have the carrying capacity to transport three metric tonnes to any point on the lunar surface. Its storage capacity makes it suitable for a wide range of logistical, infrastructural, and scientific payloads.

“Our Blue Moon landers are architected for that future day when lunar ice can be used to manufacture LOX and LH2 propellants on the Moon,” it said.

Posting on Instagram Jeff Bezos wrote, “MK1’s early missions will pave the way and prove technologies for our MK2 lander for @nasa’s Human Landing System.”

In addition, he reviewed a few technical aspects, including the fact that the MK1 can fit within the New Glenn rocket’s 7-meter fairing and can transport up to 3 tonnes of goods to any location on the moon’s surface. The first launch from New Glenn is scheduled for next year.

The administrator of NASA, Bill Nelson, also wrote on Instagram, “Impressive visit to the @blueorigin Huntsville Engine Production Facility! @NASA is proud to partner with Blue Origin, especially on the Blue Moon human landing system, which will help ensure a steady cadence of astronauts on the Moon to live and work before we venture to Mars.”

A crew-capable lunar lander is expected to be ready for Artemis moon missions beginning with Artemis 5, which is presently slated for 2029, according to reports. Neither Bezos nor Nelson indicated particular timetables in their remarks.

Ahead of Blue Origin’s first manned trip, SpaceX plans to deploy a modified version of its Starship spaceship to land the first people on the moon since the last Apollo mission in 1972. The target date for Artemis III, the mission, is 2025.

About Blue Moon Lunar Lander

The Blue Moon Lunar Lander is an autonomous lunar lander created by Jeff Bezos’s business Blue Origin to transport and maintain goods on the lunar surface. The lander is 16 metres in height and is designed to fit within the New Glenn rocket’s 7-meter payload fairing from Blue Origin. A single BE-7 engine provides power, and its cargo capacity may exceed 3 tonnes.

The lander’s accurate and gentle landing capabilities are part of a larger effort to create a permanent human presence on the moon. Lockheed Martin, Draper, Boeing, Astrobotics, and Honeybee Robotics are all working together to create the Blue Moon Lunar Lander. Future lunar missions, such as NASA’s Artemis programme, will rely heavily on the lander.