NASA has launched a new program to develop private landing modules for the moon.

Private business is increasingly involved in space, as research programs, and commercial projects, such as space tourism. All this can not but rejoice, since the inflow of private investment in the "space" sphere accelerates the development of various programs, and undoubtedly brings the cosmos closer to the average person, if one can put it that way.

Not long ago, NASA signed contracts with Space X and Orbital Sciences for the supply of payloads to the ISS. Now NASA is working on another project - attracting private companies to create not the orbital, but the lunar "cab drivers": landing devices capable of launching from our planet and landing on the Moon.
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The new program is called "Lunar Cargo Transportation and Landing by Soft Touchdown" (CATALYST). The purpose of the program is to attract private business interested in the exploration of the moon. In turn, NASA will provide its expertise, knowledge, equipment, and manufacturing facilities to support future private moon exploration projects.

For NASA, it should be noted, difficult times have come now - after all, the budget of this organization has been significantly limited. So cooperation with private business is an excellent solution to the problem of lack of money. In addition, all this can give a powerful impetus to future projects for the study of the Moon and near-moon / near-Earth space.

By the way, the goal of the program, besides the development of private spacecraft for expeditions to the moon, is the search and extraction of water on the moon (yes, there is water on the moon ). Of course, the project for finding and extracting water on the moon is not the case for the nearest future, but the creation of private lunar landing modules and spacecrafts is quite realistic now. Subject to attracting investment, since the case is very expensive.

Already, the agency is working with various organizations in the USA and Canada, developing a lunar landing module and a lunar rover. And the flow of third-party funds can significantly accelerate this process. The organizations interested in the project can submit applications , they will be accepted until March 17 of this year.

Via reuters