Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin is showing off a full-sized mockup of an unscrewed version of its Blue Moon lunar lander.
The lander will test technologies ahead of a crewed version of the Blue Moon lander that the company is developing for NASA’s Artemis effort, Space News reports.
The company shared an image on Instagram of the lander which is currently located in its engine manufacturing facility in Huntsville, Alabama.
The “Pathfinder Mission,” the first flight for the Blue Moon Mark 1, will be designed MK1-SN001.
“MK1-SN001 proves out critical systems, including the BE-7 engine, cryogenic fluid power and propulsions systems, avionics, continuous downlink communications, and precision landing,” the company says.
Future iterations of the Mark 1 lander are expected to be able to carry people as well.
NASA Administrator Bill Nelson also posted images of the Blue Moon lander on his Twitter/X account Friday where he remarked that NASA was “proud to partner with Blue Origin” and that the project will “help ensure a steady cadence of astronauts on the Moon to live and work before we venture to Mars.”
Blue Origin is one of 14 companies that are performing uncrewed lunar landings for NASA’s Commercial Lunar Payload Services program.
Other companies that are part of the program include Elon Musk’s SpaceX, Lockheed Martin Space, and Firefly Aerospace, amongst others.
Blue Origin was one of the five companies announced in November 2019 as taking part in NASA’s Commercial Lunar Payload Services or CLPS initiative.
Neither Blue Moon nor NASA have indicated when the Pathfinder Mission or future Blue Moon Mark 1 landers will launch.
