The agency said in a Friday release the company will be responsible for designing, developing, testing and verifying its lander to meet NASA’s human landing system requirements for multiple expeditions to be used for its Artemis V mission.
The company will also have an uncrewed demonstration mission to the moon’s surface before a crewed demonstration on the Artemis V mission scheduled for 2029.
"We are in a golden age of human spaceflight, which is made possible by NASA’s commercial and international partnerships," NASA Administrator Bill Nelson said in the release. "Together, we are making an investment in the infrastructure that will pave the way to land the first astronauts on Mars."
The announcement also noted NASA previously set up a contract with Elon Musk’s SpaceX to demonstrate an initial human landing system for Artemis III — which is set to bring the first humans in half a century back to the moon’s surface in 2025 — and demonstrate a lander for Artemis IV.
NASA’s rocket will launch four astronauts into lunar orbit on the Orion spacecraft for Artemis V. The spacecraft will dock, and two of the astronauts will then go to Blue Origin’s human landing system for about a weeklong trip on the moon’s south pole area to "conduct science and exploration activities."
The release states adding another partner for the Artemis program will increase competition, reduce costs for taxpayers, support regular lunar landings, further invest in the "lunar economy" and help NASA achieve its goals on the moon to plan for future missions to Mars.
"Artemis V is at the intersection of demonstrating NASA’s initial lunar exploration capabilities and establishing the foundational systems to support recurring complex missions in lunar orbit and on the surface as part of the agency’s Moon to Mars exploration approach," the release states.