Artist’s concept of a Sierra Nevada Corp. commercial lunar lander on the Moon. Sierra Nevada was one of five companies announced on Nov. 18, 2019, as taking part in NASA’s Commercial Lunar Payload Services or CLPS initiative. CLPS allows rapid acquisition of lunar delivery services for payloads that advance capabilities for science, exploration, or commercial development of the Moon. Investigations and demonstrations launched on commercial Moon flights will help the agency study Earth’s nearest neighbor under the Artemis program. As its next step in exploration, NASA is preparing to send the first woman and next man to the Moon by 2024, establish sustainable lunar exploration by 2028, and plans to send astronauts to Mars in the mid-2030s.
Image credit: Sierra Nevada Corp.