Fresh off the success of Artemis II's trip around the moon, NASA is already looking ahead to what will come next. This includes making preparations for the moon landing planned for the Artemis IV mission.
"The next mission's right around the corner," said Rick Henfling, entry flight director for Artemis II, according to Fortune.
The competition over who will build the next moon landing craft has pitted two familiar foes against one another. Elon Musk's SpaceX and Jeff Bezos' Blue Origin are both vying for the historic opportunity, Fortune reported.
The Artemis IV moon landing is scheduled to take place in 2028. Before that, the Artemis III mission will practice docking with the lunar lander while in Earth orbit.
As two of the world's richest people push for their companies to build the next lunar landing craft, the situation serves as a reminder that the next frontier for today's Earth-based tech wars will be outer space.
Jared Isaacman, the NASA administrator, has shared plans to ultimately build a permanent moon base at a cost of between $30 billion and $50 billion, per Fortune.
Adding to the stakes, Musk's SpaceX, which also includes the mercurial billionaire's xAI artificial-intelligence company, has been planning an initial public offering.
Experts have predicted that, once it goes public, the company will be valued at over $1 trillion, according to the BBC. This means that the IPO has the potential to make Musk the world's first trillionaire.
Being chosen as the company that will build the first lunar lander in roughly half a century certainly would add to the publicity and anticipation surrounding the SpaceX IPO.
However, Musk, who founded SpaceX in 2002, has often shared even grander ambitions for the company. These include creating data centers that float in outer space and a self-sustaining colony on Mars, per the BBC.
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