Here's what has to happen if NASA wants to land on the Moon every month

“What we’re seeing in CLPS 1.0 is this potential for multi-mission block buys,” Seyffert said. “So we’re looking forward to seeing that in CLPS 2.0.” Blue Origin is a player in both the CLPS and Human Landing System programs, with a pathfinder cargo lander named Endurance set to fly to the Moon later this year. It will help pave the way for a crew lander for NASA’s use on future Artemis missions. “The development (of the cargo lander) is done,” Seyffert said. “We have great test data. We’re going to fly that later this year, and then we’re going to build to print dozens of landers to help NASA achieve its goals.” Astrobotic, which failed on its first mission to the Moon and is now manufacturing a larger lander for its second try, also supports the idea of block buys. “I’m really excited to now leverage a finished product and be able to utilize that over and over again,” said Dan Hendrickson, vice president of business development at Astrobotic. “One of the challenges, I think, that we faced is the bespoke nature, sometimes, of mission to mission. If we can try to maintain some of these vehicle types over and over again, I think we’ll reap the benefit of all of the blood, sweat, and tears that went into getting our supply chain to be able to perform and to overcome some technical challenges that were pretty significant.” Intuitive Machines’ Athena lander descends toward the lunar surface on March 6, 2025. The spacecraft tipped over upon touchdown. …