Cambridge Company Shoots For $2.6 Billion NASA Moon Contract

CAMBRIDGE, MA — As fascination with space travel grows and the president has directed NASA to head back to the moon and beyond, a Cambridge research-and-development company is working to nab a NASA contract worth as much as $2.6 billion.

The National Aeronautics and Space Administration announced Thursday that Draper and eight other US companies are in the running for the contract. It's a step toward setting up a permanent outpost there to study the moon and eventually help facilitate exploration of Mars.

“Today’s announcement marks tangible progress in America’s return to the moon’s surface to stay,” NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine said in a statement.

The government agency official said it planned to buy the service of going to the moon for the first time. And the contract was part of the president's Space Policy Directive 1, and in response to the science community, Bridenstine said.

"We're doing something we've never done before," he said during the announcement.

The plan is to go to the moon commercially for the first time so that NASA can focus on studying the moon.

"This is about sustainable science and feeding forward the advance of the human spirit," a voice over to a short video said before Bridenstine took to the stage to make an announcement Thursday.

The nine companies, including Draper, will be able to bid on delivering science and technology payloads for NASA, including payload integration and operations, launching from Earth and landing on the surface of the Moon. NASA expects to be one of many customers that will use the commercial landing services.

“The innovation of America’s aerospace companies, wedded with our big goals in science and human exploration, are going to help us achieve amazing things on the Moon and feed forward to Mars," said Bridenstine.

The Commercial Lunar Payload Services contracts are "indefinite delivery, indefinite quantity" contracts with a combined maximum contract value of $2.6 billion during the next 10 years, according to NASA.

The agency will look at a number of factors when comparing the bids, such as technical feasibility, price and schedule.

And cargo could fly on these contracted missions as early as 2019.

Draper developed the guidance, navigation and control system that made the first trip to the moon possible.

“Navigating humans to the moon and back nearly 50 years ago was an incredibly proud moment for the engineers and scientists at Draper,” said Draper President and CEO Kaigham Gabriel. “And that legacy continues as we return to the moon and beyond.”

The Draper team’s lander—dubbed Artemis-7—will complete sample collection and return, demonstrate the use of in-space resources and reduce risk for the production of human landers.

“The Artemis-7 design will fly multiple times before its first CLPS mission,” said Seamus Tuohy, principal director of space systems at Draper in a statement. “Our lander design has secured substantial private funding. When you combine those investments with the extensible capability of the team and our history of delivering humans to the moon and bringing them back, we’re positioned well to meet NASA’s mission needs.”

The other companies in the running:

• Astrobotic Technology, Inc.: Pittsburgh
• Deep Space Systems: Littleton, Colorado
• Firefly Aerospace, Inc.: Cedar Park, Texas
• Intuitive Machines, LLC: Houston
• Lockheed Martin Space: Littleton, Colorado
• Masten Space Systems, Inc.: Mojave, California
• Moon Express: Cape Canaveral, Florida
• Orbit Beyond: Edison, New Jersey

Image Gallery: Draft lander concepts from companies selected for the Commercial Lunar Payload Services program.
Watch: Commercial Lunar Payload Services:

Photo by Renee Shiavone/Patch Staff