NASA has given Jeff Bezos' space company a lucrative contract for billions – and the moon. Bezos has invested billions in the company since Blue Origin was founded in 2000 to compete against SpaceX in lucrative, commercial and government space contracts.
The contract with Blue Origin is worth about $3.4 billion, said NASA executive Jim Free. Blue Origin plans to build its 16-meter-tall Blue Moon lander in a partnership with Lockheed Martin, Boeing, space software company Draper and robotics company Astorobotic. Landing, scheduled for 2029, will bring two astronauts to the lunar surface.