Northrop Grumman (NYSE:NOC) is competing with former partner Blue Origin to win NASA’s estimated $10 billion contract for its next moon lander. The aerospace company is teaming with Leidos (LDOS) unit Dynetics to develop a spacecraft that will bring astronauts to the lunar surface as part of the Artemis missions.
The rivalry marks a significant change from three years ago. Northrop at that time had worked with Blue Origin, the space exploration company started by Amazon (AMZN) founder Jeff Bezos, on a bid for a lunar lander. Bezos called the joint effort the “National Team,” which also included Lockheed Martin (LMT) and Draper.
Elon Musk’s SpaceX (SPACE) last year won the $2.9 billion contract, prompting Blue Origin to protest NASA’s decision and file suit against the agency. A federal court last year ruled against the company. After a lobbying effort by Blue Origin, NASA this year started another competition for a second moon lander as a backup to SpaceX’s.
Blue Origin on Tuesday in a tweet announced a new National Team that brings back Lockheed Martin (LMT) and Draper, and adds Boeing (BA), Astrobotic Technology and Honeybee Robotics. Blue Origin acquired Honeybee in January.
