<ul class="summary-list"><li><keyword id="6355315" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="elon-musk">Elon Musk</keyword> now has another private jet in his arsenal, FAA records show. </li><li>Falcon Landing, an LLC connected to <keyword id="6360701" type="DEFINITION" weightage="60" keywordseo="spacex">SpaceX</keyword> and <keyword id="107096" type="COMPANY" weightage="60" keywordseo="Tesla">Tesla</keyword>, registered a second <keyword id="242319" type="COMPANY" weightage="60" keywordseo="Gulfstream">Gulfstream</keyword> plane in August. </li><li>Musk has been putting plenty of miles on the first plane jetting between California and SpaceX's Texas launch site. </li></ul><p>Elon Musk is known to put plenty of miles on jets, and now he's got another in his arsenal.</p><p>The Tesla and SpaceX CEO now has access to a second lavish Gulfstream aircraft for jetting between car factories, rocket launch sites, and everywhere in between.</p><p><keyword id="9829647" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="falcon-landing-llc">Falcon Landing LLC</keyword>, a shell company with ties to SpaceX's Hawthorne, California headquarters, <a href="https://registry.faa.gov/aircraftinquiry/Name_Results.aspx?Nametxt=FALCON+LANDING+LLC&amp;sort_option=1&amp;PageNo=1PageNo=1">recently registered a new Gulfstream G550</a> jet alongside its larger G650. <a href="http://jetsales.com/gulfstream-g550-s-n-5164/">According to its broker listing,</a> the new jet has space for 17 passengers that can be re-configured into a sleeping configuration.</p><p>The<a href="https://www.protocol.com/elon-musks-new-plane"> registration was first spotted by Protocol</a>, which pegs the jet's price around $14 million. Business Insider was unable to confirm this number. SpaceX did not respond to a request for comment.</p><p>The new jet doesn't appear to have made any Tesla or SpaceX-related flights yet, though the previous G650<a href="https://opensky-network.org/aircraft-profile?icao24=a835af"> frequently flies between California and the Texas coast</a> where the company has eyes on building a private village complete with hotel rooms, recreation options, and parties — <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/spacex-planning-private-village-south-texas-starship-boca-chica-beach-2020-2">and is buying out current residents to make it happen.</a></p><p>According to the Washington Post, Musk <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/economy/elon-musks-highflying-2018-what-150000-miles-in-a-private-jet-reveal-about-his-excruciating-year/2019/01/29/83b5604e-20ee-11e9-8b59-0a28f2191131_story.html">put more than 150,000 miles on the plane </a>in 2018, including pet projects and vacation in addition to running the two companies. Now, with Tesla building a new car factory in Texas, it's likely that Musk will be travelling even more. </p>

Elon Musk now has another lavish Gulfstream private jet in his arsenal

<img src="https://static-ssl.businessinsider.com/image/594d7dfdd084cc28008b53ed-669/spacex-bulgariasat-1-falcon-9-launch-spacex-youtube.jpg" alt="spacex bulgariasat 1 falcon 9 launch spacex youtube" /><p class="source"><span><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y8mLi-rRTh8">SpaceX/YouTube</a></span></p><p class="caption">BulgariaSat-1 launches toward space on a used Falcon 9 rocket.</p><p>SpaceX on Friday kicked off the first of two rocket launches this weekend with a smashing success.</p><p>The aerospace company, founded by tech mogul Elon Musk, <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y8mLi-rRTh8" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">fired off a Falcon 9 rocket</a> around 3:10 p.m. EDT on June 23. Minutes later, it delivered Bulgaria's first telecommunications satellite into orbit about 22,200 miles above Earth.</p><p>But part of the rocket did something extra-special right after launch: Its first-stage booster - the rocket's biggest and <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/spacex-reusable-rocket-launch-costs-profits-2017-6">most expensive section</a> - fell back to Earth, reignited its engines, and <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/reusable-rockets-musk-bezos-space-colonies-2017-3">safely landed</a> on the deck of an autonomous barge named "Of Course I Still Love You".</p><p>"Rocket is extra toasty and hit the deck hard (used almost all of the emergency crush core), but otherwise good," Musk <a href="https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/878334920141135872">said in a tweet</a> shortly after the landing.</p><p>This wasn't the booster's first landing, however. The same one launched and landed itself months ago, and was then refurbished and reintegrated into another rocket - the one used for the June 23 launch of BulgariaSat-1.</p><p>Also, because the satellite's target orbit was tens of thousands of miles higher than a low-Earth orbit, the booster had barely enough fuel to land; in fact, Musk did not expect it to survive.</p><p>"Falcon 9 will experience its highest ever reentry force and heat in today's launch. Good chance rocket booster doesn't make it back," he tweeted shortly before launch on Friday.</p><p><br />This marks the <a href="https://twitter.com/SpaceX/status/878332861668929537">second re-launch and re-landing</a> of a previously-flown rocket booster, SpaceX said.</p><p>If the company can reliably repeat this feat, over and over again, the implications could be enormous. That's because nearly all rockets that launch payloads into space fall back to Earth and crash, rendering them as millions of dollars' worth of garbage.</p><p>Musk has said a Falcon 9 booster comprises up to 70% of the entire rocket's cost to SpaceX. So each time it can land and refurbish the booster, it stands to save millions on the cost required to build a whole rocket. It can then pass on some of those savings to customers by giving a discount on the $62 million price tag for new Falcon 9.</p><p>Discounting an already relatively affordable rocket seems to be opening up the market to new customers. For example, SpaceX gave BulgariaSat (which paid for Friday's launch) enough of a discount to enable their mission.</p><p>"People don't realize that, for small countries and small companies like us, without SpaceX, there was no way we would ever be able to even think about space," Maxim Zayakov, he CEO of BulgariaSat, <a href="https://spaceflightnow.com/2017/06/22/head-of-bulgariasat-says-satellite-project-would-be-impossible-without-spacex/">told writer Stephen Clark</a> of Spaceflight Now. "With [SpaceX], it was possible. We got a project. I think, in the future, it's going to be even more affordable because of reusability."</p><img src="https://static-ssl.businessinsider.com/image/594d7dfdd084cc1e008b53cc-842/spacex-bulgariasat-1-falcon-9-drone-ship-landing-spacex-youtube.jpg" alt="spacex bulgariasat 1 falcon 9 drone ship landing spacex youtube" /><p class="source"><span><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y8mLi-rRTh8">SpaceX/YouTube</a></span></p><p>SpaceX declined to tell Business Insider about its cost or profit margins, or how much of a discount it's giving to customers like BulgariaSat for launching with used equipment. But we recently took all available public information, combined with launch market analysis and reports, to estimate those discounts.</p><p>If SpaceX is raking in a 40% profit per launch on a Falcon 9 rocket, as the investment firm Jefferies International LLC has estimated, then a new booster may cost SpaceX about $26 million. This means that if SpaceX re-uses a booster just once, it could be saving as much as $13 million.</p><p>If it uses a booster an average of 15 times, however, SpaceX could be saving much more in the long run - $24 million, at least compared to a brand-new rocket.</p><p>We used these and other estimates to guess how quickly SpaceX could pay back what Musk said was a roughly $1 billion in reusable rocket technologies. You can <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/spacex-reusable-rocket-launch-costs-profits-2017-6">read our analysis here</a> - though it doesn't account for rocket accidents, launch schedule delays, and the emergence of reusable-rocket competitors like Blue Origin.</p><iframe src="https://gfycat.com/ifr/PoshShimmeringHapuku" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" width="100%" height="100%" style="position:absolute;top:0;left:0"></iframe>            <h3>NOW WATCH: <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/watch-spacex-launch-land-second-used-rocket-video-2017-6">Watch SpaceX launch and land its second used rocket of the year</a></h3>                                    Please enable Javascript to watch this video                    

SpaceX has launched and landed another used rocket, saving what could be millions of dollars

<ul class="summary-list"><li>A planespotter at LAX was surprised by a Boeing 737 with an unusual grey livery.</li><li>The jet turned out to be owned by a company linked to SpaceX.</li></ul><p><a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/elon-musk">Elon Musk</a>'s SpaceX has seemingly bought a Boeing 737 that used to belong to Air China, records show.</p><p>A planespotter filmed the jet, registered as <a target="_blank" href="https://registry.faa.gov/AircraftInquiry/Search/NNumberResult?nNumberTxt=154TS">N154TS</a>, landing at Los Angeles International Airport on Wednesday — where its unique grey livery attracted attention.</p><p>The Federal Aviation Administration's registry shows the jet's owner is Falcon Aviation Holdings LLC. That company's address is the same as <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/spacex-elon-musk">SpaceX</a>'s headquarters in Hawthorne, California.</p><blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Unexpected visitor at LAX: A Boeing 737-800 with a distinctive livery, registered under Falcon Aviation Holdings LLC. Interesting twist – its registration address is linked to SpaceX headquarters in Hawthorne! <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/aviation?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#aviation</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/avgeek?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#avgeek</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/airplanes?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#airplanes</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/planespotting?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#planespotting</a> <a href="https://t.co/mf6I29kt26">pic.twitter.com/mf6I29kt26</a></p>— AIRLINE VIDEOS (@airlinevideos) <a href="https://twitter.com/airlinevideos/status/1750561722010886281?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 25, 2024</a></blockquote><p>Falcon Aviation Holdings took ownership of the 737-800 back in July, according to data from <a target="_blank" href="https://www.planespotters.net/airframe/boeing-737-800-n154ts-hemisphere-aerospace/e25lde?refresh=1">Planespotters.net</a>. The Boeing jet first entered service in 2002, when it was delivered to Air China.</p><p>A decade later, Air China then converted the plane into a freighter. It's unclear whether it's still configured as such, or what SpaceX might be using it for.</p><p>Notably, the subsidiary which owns the jet is different from the other planes related to SpaceX.</p><blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">A review of the current aircraft related to SpaceX<br /><br />N628TS (FALCON LANDING LLC) a G650<br />N272BG (FALCON LANDING LLC) a G550<br />N502SX (FALCON LANDING LLC) &gt; Now (TVPX TRUSTEE) a G550<br />N450GG (TVPX TRUSTEE) a G450<br />N154TS (FALCON AVIATION HOLDINGS LLC) a B738</p>— Jack Sweeney (@Jxck_Sweeney) <a href="https://twitter.com/Jxck_Sweeney/status/1750718742860853336?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 26, 2024</a></blockquote><p><a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/man-who-tracks-elon-musk-private-jet-permanently-banned-twitter-2022-12">Jack Sweeney</a>, the aviation enthusiast who has drawn Musk's ire by tracking the jets, noted there are five planes linked to SpaceX. Most of them are owned by Falcon Landing LLC.</p><p>All the other four are Gulfstream private jets, including the <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/elon-musk-private-jet-gulfstream-g650er-lifestyle-wealth-photos-2022-4">G650 which is Musk's typical mode of air transport</a>.</p><p>So why his company has bought another plane, which can seat up to 10 times more people than a Gulfstream, remains to be seen.</p><p>SpaceX did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Business Insider, sent outside regular US working hours.</p>

Elon Musk's SpaceX seemingly bought a Boeing 737 with a strange livery — and nobody appears to know why

<ul class="summary-list"><li>Taylor Swift's jets spent nearly seven days worth of time in the air during <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/taylor-swift-making-millions-from-eras-mini-residencies-la-toronto-2023-8">her Eras tour</a>, JetSpy data shows.</li><li>The singer's jets often flew to Nashville late at night after her concerts wrapped up.</li></ul><p>Gone are the days of old-school tour buses and living on the road. Now, pop stars like Taylor Swift are likely to fly straight home after a concert.</p><p>Swift and her two private jets have spent the last several months crisscrossing the US throughout the first leg of her <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/resale-price-taylor-swift-eras-tour-reputation-ticket-pitchfork-report-2023-8">colossal Eras Tour</a>.</p><p>The singer has two multi-million dollar planes: a Dassault Falcon 7X, registered <a href="https://registry.faa.gov/AircraftInquiry/Search/NNumberResult?nNumberTxt=621MM" target="_blank" rel="noopener">N621MM</a> under Island Jet Inc, and a Dassault Falcon 900, registered <a href="https://registry.faa.gov/AircraftInquiry/Search/NNumberResult" target="_blank" rel="noopener">N898TS</a> under SATA LLC. Both companies are registered to the same address as Taylor Swift Productions in Nashville, according to Tennessee Secretary of State documents. </p><p>The <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/see-new-53-million-dassault-falcon-6x-private-jet-2023-8">Dassault</a> 900 jet can carry up to 12 passengers and requires a two-person crew. The Dassault 7X has a slightly larger cabin, carrying up to 16 passengers, and is designed for longer flights. </p><p>Swift appears to have bought both aircraft several years ago. The planes were registered to her holding companies in 2009 and 2018, respectively, <a href="https://www.flightaware.com/resources/registration/N621MM" target="_blank" rel="noopener">according to FAA data.</a> Today, a new <a href="https://bjtonline.com/aircraft/dassault-falcon-7x" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Dassault 7X</a> is estimated to cost about $54 million, while a new <a href="https://bjtonline.com/aircraft/dassault-falcon-900lx" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Dassault 900</a> has a list price of $44 million, according to Business Jet Traveler.</p><div type="image" title="Converted bed in the Dassault Falcon 900." height="723" width="964" msid="103208158" hostid="261"></div><p>Since March, the planes have spent nearly seven days worth of time, or about 166 hours, flying to and from Swift's concerts, according to <a href="https://jetspy.com">data from aircraft-tracking website JetSpy.</a></p><p>JetSpy aggregates its flight information using ADS-B data that is transmitted from several vendors and networks. ADS-B is a public surveillance technology that broadcasts information like GPS location and altitude from one aircraft to another and to ground stations. The technology made headlines last year when it was used to <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/student-who-tracks-elon-musk-jet-launching-own-website-2023-2">broadcast Elon Musk's flight data</a> on social media.</p><p>Here's a closer look at the flight activity of Swift's jets during the first five months of her Eras tour.</p><h2>Swift's jets have taken 103 flights this year</h2><p>Swift's jets have taken a combined 103 flights so far this year — 86 of which have taken place since massive Eras tour kicked off in March.</p><p>A spokesperson for Swift told Insider the singer has worked to offset her jets' carbon emissions.</p><p>"Before the tour kicked off in March of 2023, Taylor purchased more than double the carbon credits needed to offset all tour travel," the spokesperson said. Insider was not able to independently verify this.</p><p>In 2023, carbon credits cost between $40 to $80 per metric ton of CO2, <a href="https://terrapass.com/blog/creating-carbon-credits-is-it-profitable/#:~:text=Carbon%20credits%20in%202023%20cost,also%20known%20as%20a%20tonne" target="_blank" rel="noopener">according to Terrapass</a>, a company that provides carbon offsetting products. Earlier this year, <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/travel/2023/04/17/carbon-offsets-flights-airlines/">The Washington Post reported</a> that some experts believe the majority of carbon credit programs overestimate their emission reductions.</p><p>There is no way of knowing the jets' passengers for any of the flights. Both jets appear to have primarily followed locations along the singer's tour route, which kicked off in Glendale, Arizona, on March 17.</p><div type="image" title="taylor swift eras tour" height="4500" width="6000" msid="103208161" hostid="261"></div><p>The average flight during the tour has been just under two hours. The shortest flight was an eight-minute hop from a small airport in Van Nuys, California, to Burbank, California, on March 26. (This could have been a pilot repositioning the plane.)</p><p>The longest flight was on July 2, when Swift's Dassault 7X jet flew from Groton New London Airport in Connecticut to Bob Hope Airport in Burbank.</p><p>The roughly 5-hour flight appeared to be part of a return trip from an airport near one of Swift's houses in Rhode Island.</p><h2><strong>Swift's jets often made red-eye flights out of concert locations</strong></h2><p>On multiple occasions, both of Swift's jets made duplicate flights in one day or flew from different locations to the same destination. Swift's Dassault 900 jet typically flew to concerts from her adopted hometown of Nashville, Tennessee — and would head back after the show.</p><p>The singer has homes in cities including Nashville, New York, and Beverly Hills, according to <a href="https://www.wsj.com/articles/taylor-swift-homes-17ea9bfa">The Wall Street Journal</a>.</p><p>Throughout the tour, Swift's N898TS jet often departed from tour locations late at night — typically taking off between the hours of 11 p.m. to midnight and landing in Nashville as early as 4:38 a.m. the next day. Most of the late-night flights landed between the hours of midnight and 1:30. a.m. </p><p>The second jet — N621MM — mostly followed N898TS, though it also took detours to places like Burbank; Tampa, Florida; and a New Jersey airport located about an hour's drive outside of New York City. Meanwhile, N898TS rarely deviated from the tour schedule.</p><h2><strong>Swift's tour is far from over</strong></h2><p><strong></strong></p><div type="image" title="Dassault Falcon 900" height="2000" width="2666" msid="103208163" hostid="261"></div><p>While the first leg of Swift's marathon Eras tour is complete, her days of jet-setting are far from over. The singer has already started touring in Mexico and one of her jets has already made a red-eye flight from Mexico City to Nashville, according to JetSpy data. She will also bring Eras to Canada, South America, Europe, Asia, and Australia. More recently, Swift <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/taylor-swift-making-millions-from-eras-mini-residencies-la-toronto-2023-8">announced</a> she would return to the US for another leg of the tour later next year.</p><p>Swift is one of the world's highest-paid artists and her tour is set to bring in<a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2023/07/04/taylor-swift-eras-tour-set-to-earn-record-breaking-1-billion-dollars-in-sales.html#:~:text=Last%20December%2C%20Billboard%20estimated%20that,total%20gross%20revenue%20is%20likely." target="_blank" rel="noopener"> over $1 billion in sales</a> — making it the highest-grossing tour of all time, <a href="https://news.pollstar.com/2023/06/26/mid-year-top-tours-no-1-taylor-swifts-eras-tour/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">according to concert data tracker Pollstar</a>.</p><p>While the lengthy tour may excite fans, her jet usage could ignite some criticism.</p><p>Last year, data from digital marketing firm Yard found the singer's Dassault 7X private jet <a href="https://www.insider.com/taylor-swift-jet-emits-more-co2-than-any-other-celeb-2022-7">emitted over 8,293 metric tons of CO2</a> in 2022 — or nearly 1,200 times the average person's total yearly emissions, according to the study.</p><p>At the time, Swift's spokesperson said that she regularly <a href="https://simpleflying.com/taylor-swift-rep-refutes-private-jet-claims/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">lent the jets out</a>. </p><p>"To attribute most or all of these trips to her is blatantly incorrect," the spokesperson<a href="https://www.eonline.com/news/1340133/the-truth-behind-taylor-swift-s-private-jet-usage?cmpid=social&amp;source=twitter-enews&amp;content=organic&amp;medium=link-post" target="_blank" rel="noopener"> told E! News.</a></p><p>It appears Swift has cut back on flights this year. According to the data from JetSpy, her two planes took a combined 138 flights between January 2022 and August 2022, when she wasn't on tour. That compares to the 103 total flights as of August 29 this year.</p>

Taylor Swift's private jets have spent over 166 hours crisscrossing the US during the singer's colossal Eras tour

<ul class="summary-list"><li>Elon Musk appears to have ordered custom Tesla and SpaceX stickers for his latest private jet.</li><li>He has reportedly ordered a Gulfstream G700 to replace his G650ER jet.</li></ul><p>Elon Musk appears to have ordered custom-made stickers with Starlink and Tesla logos for his new Gulfstream G700 private jet. </p><p>A Gulfstream employee shared a picture of what appears to be the stickers with Jack Sweeney, who runs a <a href="https://twitter.com/ElonJet">Twitter account tracking Musk's jets</a>.</p><p>The text reads: "Old Elongated Muskrat is buying a new G700 because he's tired of that guy on Twitter tracking the flights of his 650. My manager was f---ing giddy making these for him."</p><p>Insider could not verify who took the image that Sweeney shared with Insider.</p><p>Musk and Gulfstream did not respond to Insider's request for comment. </p><div type="image" title="Elon Musk is understood to have ordered a Gulfstream G700 jet." height="2400" width="3199" msid="95298675" hostid="261" sizebytes="123262"></div><p>Musk <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/elon-musk-new-jet-gulfstream-g700-photos-tour-2022-11#elon-musk-the-richest-person-in-the-world-is-a-big-fan-of-private-jets-and-he-just-added-a-new-jet-to-his-collection-1">recently placed an order</a> for a G700, which costs about $78 million, to replace his G650ER.</p><p>He also owns two Gulfstream G550s, which are registered to Falcon Landing LLC, a shell company with ties to Space X, the FAA registry shows.</p><p>Musk's <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/elon-musk-first-private-jet-dassault-falcon-lifestyle-wealth-900b-2022-4">first jet</a> was a Dassault 900B. <a href="https://flightaware.com/resources/registration/N900SX">Records show</a> that ownership of the jet changed in August 2017. </p>

Elon Musk appears to order Tesla and SpaceX stickers for his new $78 million Gulfstream G700 jet

<ul class="summary-list"><li><strong><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/category/nasa" target="_blank" rel="noopener">NASA</a> is preparing to land a spacecraft on the <keyword id="42440" type="PERSON" weightage="60" keywordseo="Moon">moon</keyword> for the first time in <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/moon-missions-why-astronauts-have-not-returned-2018-7">nearly half a century</a>.</strong></li><li><strong>On Thursday, the agency will announce the rocket company that will launch the next moon rover in 2022, through a program called <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/nasa-moon-landing-mission-private-competition-2018-11">Commercial Lunar Payload Services</a> (CLPS).</strong></li><li><strong>Commercial partners will provide the rockets and spaceships for <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/nasa-artemis-moon-base-apollo-space-rocket-sls-2019-9">NASA's Artemis program</a>, which aims to send humans back to the moon.</strong></li><li><strong>The <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/nasa-new-moon-rover-sample-water-ice-lunar-south-pole-2019-10">new lunar rover</a> will search the moon's unexplored south pole for water ice — a resource that will be critical for setting up a permanent base there and, eventually, sending <keyword id="73998" type="PERSON" weightage="60" keywordseo="astronauts">astronauts</keyword> to <keyword id="47638" type="COMPANY" weightage="60" keywordseo="Mars">Mars</keyword>.</strong></li></ul><p><keyword id="6360409" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="Nasa">NASA</keyword> is about to announce the rocket company that will carry <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/nasa-new-moon-rover-sample-water-ice-lunar-south-pole-2019-10">its next rover to the moon</a> — the first such flight since the Apollo program ended in 1972.</p><p>It's the next step in the agency's plan to pave a new path to space, the moon, and Mars by partnering with commercial providers.</p><p>The planned announcement comes less than two weeks after the first commercial launch of astronauts, when a <keyword id="6360701" type="DEFINITION" weightage="60" keywordseo="spacex">SpaceX</keyword> Falcon 9 rocket sent NASA's <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/nasa-astronauts-doug-hurley-bob-behnken-biography-spacex-demo2-2020-5">Bob Behnken and Doug Hurley</a> into orbit aboard the company's Crew Dragon spaceship. On May 31, <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/nasa-astronauts-connect-spacex-crew-dragon-spaceship-international-space-station-2020-5">the ship docked</a> to the International Space Station (ISS).</p><p><div type="image" title="spacex falcon 9 rocket launch crew dragon spaceship endeavour demo2 demo 2 bob robert behnken doug hurley launch complex 39a kennedy space center ksc KSC 20200530 PH AWG06_0003_orig" height="2124" width="2832" msid="76311260" hostid="261"></div></p><p>That historic launch marked the first time that astronauts have flown in a US spacecraft, or launched from US soil, since the space shuttle program ended in 2011. It was the product of NASA's Commercial Crew Program, through which the space agency vetted dozens of companies and emerged with two partners for human spaceflight: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/spacex-boeing-nasa-commercial-crew-program-launch-astronauts-2020-1">SpaceX and Boeing</a>.</p><p>Now, the agency is beginning a similar process with its lunar launch program, called Commercial Lunar Payload Services (CLPS). The $2.8 billion initiative allows 14 companies to bid on contracts to deliver NASA's missions to the moon.</p><p>NASA plans to <a href="https://www.nasa.gov/press-release/nasa-to-announce-selection-of-company-to-fly-viper-rover-to-moon/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">announce its first such partnership</a> on Thursday. The immediate goal for the company it reveals is to launch the new moon rover — called the Volatiles Investigating Polar Exploration Rover (VIPER) — in 2022.</p><p>The agency's long-term aim is to make deep-space exploration cheaper and faster by leaning on privately developed technologies.</p><h2>14 companies are competing to help NASA build a moon base</h2><p><div type="image" title="moon colony lunar base illustration concept esa" height="839" width="1119" msid="76311263" hostid="261"></div></p><p>NASA has flown 12 people to the moon, and it has the technology to do it again. But <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/moon-missions-why-astronauts-have-not-returned-2018-7">political and budgetary hurdles</a> have kept it from returning for nearly 48 years.</p><p>"If it wasn't for the political risk, we would be on the moon right now," NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine said on a call with reporters last year. "In fact, we would probably be on Mars."</p><p>So the agency has turned to commercial partners — and what astronaut <a href="https://www.jsc.nasa.gov/Bios/htmlbios/hoffman.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Jeffrey Hoffman</a> has called a "generation of billionaires who are space nuts." Like the initiative to build spacecraft that can carry astronauts to and from the ISS, public-private partnerships will fuel the Apollo program's successor, called Artemis.</p><p>The new program aims to land robots and astronauts on the lunar surface in the next decade, eventually <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/nasa-10-year-plan-lunar-base-saturn-moon-2019-7">building a permanent moon base before potentially spring-boarding from there to Mars</a>.</p><p>"There's no question: If we're going to go farther, especially if we're going to go farther than the moon, we need new transportation," Hoffman said during a roundtable last year. "Right now we're still in the horse-and-buggy days of spaceflight."</p><p><div type="image" title="lunar rover apollo nasa" height="1500" width="2000" msid="76311265" hostid="261"></div></p><p>These 14 companies are competing through CLPS for the chance to become NASA's next mode of transportation to the moon:</p><ul><li><a href="https://www.astrobotic.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Astrobotic Technology</a> </li><li><a href="https://www.blueorigin.com/">Blue Origin</a> </li><li><a href="https://www.ceresrobotics.com/">Ceres Robotics</a> </li><li><a href="http://www.deepspacesystems.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Deep Space Systems</a> </li><li><a href="https://www.draper.com/business-areas/space" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Draper</a> </li><li><a href="https://fireflyspace.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Firefly Aerospace Inc.</a> </li><li><a href="https://www.intuitivemachines.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Intuitive Machines LLC</a> </li><li><a href="https://www.lockheedmartin.com/en-us/capabilities/space.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Lockheed Martin Space</a></li><li><a href="https://www.masten.aero/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Masten Space Systems Inc.</a> </li><li><a href="http://www.moonexpress.com/">Moon Express</a> </li><li><a href="https://www.orbitbeyond.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">OrbitBeyond</a></li><li><a href="https://www.sncorp.com/">Sierra Nevada Corporation</a> </li><li><a href="https://www.spacex.com/">SpaceX</a> </li><li><a href="https://www.tyvak.com/">Tyvak Nano-Satellite Systems</a> </li></ul><p>If successfully completed, a moon base could evolve into a <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/elon-musk-mars-iac-2017-transcript-slides-2017-10">fuel depot for deep-space missions.</a> Astronauts traveling to Mars would make their jet fuel on the moon by harvesting water ice and breaking it down into oxygen (for breathing) and hydrogen (for fuel).</p><p><div type="image" title="jim bridenstine nasa administrator moon lunar surface american us flag NHQ201811290007_orig" height="1570" width="2093" msid="76311267" hostid="261"></div></p><p>On a moon base, NASA could also build unprecedented <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-017-08941-8" target="_blank" rel="noopener">radio telescopes</a>, far from the polluting hum of human activities on Earth. Astronauts there could also test technologies that might help them <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/astronaut-plants-air-food-water-life-support-2018-5">live on Mars</a> and collect evidence that could paint a better picture of <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/moon-formation-giant-impact-earth-synestia-2018-2">the violent collision that created the moon</a>. A lunar base could even spur an off-world economy, perhaps one built around <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/andy-weir-artemis-book-moon-colony-reason-2017-11">lunar space tourism</a>.</p><p>"A permanent human research station on the moon is the next logical step. It's only three days away. We can afford to get it wrong and not kill everybody," Chris Hadfield, a former astronaut, previously told Business Insider. "And we have a whole bunch of stuff we have to invent and then test in order to learn before we can go deeper out."</p><p>The first step towards that vision is sending a rover to the moon's mysterious south pole, where NASA plans to build its base.</p><h2>The rover will map water on the moon's unexplored south pole</h2><p><div type="image" title="nasa moon rover viper" height="782" width="1043" msid="76311269" hostid="261"></div></p><p>If successful, NASA's next moon rover will be the first machine to ever land on the moon's south pole (without deliberately <a href="https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/LCROSS/overview/index.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">crashing into it</a>, that is).</p><p>The golf-cart-size VIPER robot is scheduled to land in December 2022 and spend about 100 days collecting data. It will map the south pole's water ice for the first time. From that data, NASA plans to build the first global water resource maps of the moon.</p><p>Those maps will be crucial to planning and fueling a permanent base on the moon.</p><p>"Since the confirmation of lunar water ice 10 years ago, the question now is if the moon could really contain the amount of resources we need to live off-world," Daniel Andrews, the new mission's project manger, said in October. "This rover will help us answer the many questions we have about where the water is, and how much there is for us to use."</p><p>You can watch NASA's announcement below, at 2:30 p.m. ET on Thursday, June 11.</p><iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/21X5lGlDOfg" frameborder="0"></iframe><p><em>Dave Mosher contributed reporting.</em></p>

NASA is about to farm out the launch of its first moon rover in 48 years to a commercial rocket company

<p><strong><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"><img src="https://static-ssl.businessinsider.com/image/5a845a14d030721b008b46ef-2000/gettyimages-154037519.jpg" alt="eric donald trump jr" data-mce-source="Slaven Vlasic/Getty Images" data-mce-caption="Eric Trump (L) Donald Trump (center) and Donald Trump, Jr. (R)" data-link="https://www.gettyimages.com/license/154037519" /><p class="source"><span><a href="https://www.gettyimages.com/license/154037519">Slaven Vlasic/Getty Images</a></span></p><p class="caption">Eric Trump (L) Donald Trump (center) and Donald Trump, Jr. (R)</p></div><p></p></div></div></strong></p><ul><li><strong>President Donald Trump's two adult sons Eric and Donald Trump, Jr. own a huge, private hunting range in a rural community in upstate New York.</strong></li><li><strong>Neighbors report hearing massive explosions and shooting from the property.</strong></li><li><strong>The property is located next to an abandoned psychiatric hospital that is said to be haunted.</strong></li></ul><hr /><p><br />WINGDALE, N.Y. (AP) - President Donald Trump's two grown sons arrived at this tranquil, rural upstate New York hamlet with a bang.</p><p>A company tied to Donald Trump Jr. and Eric Trump owns a 171-acre hunting preserve that is being used as a private shooting range, where the sound of rifle fire from a wooden tower and exploding targets has riled nearby residents, neighbors told The Associated Press.</p><p>One neighbor complained that it rattles the windows of his home; another said it ruins the serenity of the surrounding woods. A third confronted the property's representative over the summer.</p><p>"It's like you're in a war zone," said Elisabetta Berghold, who lives on 42 acres down the road from the Trumps' land.</p><p>Neighbors said that while they knew there would be occasional rifle fire from deer hunting on the property, the thunderous noise from target practice on a stretch of land closest to other neighbors was unexpected and unwelcome.</p><p>"It's bad. It shakes the windows," said neighbor Mike Dougherty.</p><p>Four neighbors interviewed by the AP described the shooting. All said it had become less frequent in recent months but peaked on summer weekends.</p><p>The de facto shooting range is located on a strip of land on the easternmost border of the Trumps' property, an easement that was cleared of trees years ago for an AT&amp;T Inc. cable. A wooden tower on that stretch is visible from the public road.</p><p>The Trumps appear to have acquired the property via limited liability companies that contain some version of the property's address in their names but do not reveal the Trumps' connections. LLCs are often used to buy property or conduct business in ways that obscure the people behind the transactions.</p><p>The entity that purchased the land in 2013, Leather Hill Preserve LLC, lists its agent as a Manhattan company that provides registration services to LLCs across the country.</p><p>Incorporation records filed with the state show that the LLC's articles of organization were filed by a Trump Organization executive based out of Trump Tower and that Trump Jr. designated himself in July 2013 as the company's authorized person. In disclosure reports filed with New York City and obtained by the AP under a public records request, Trump Jr. lists himself as the owner of "DT Leather Hill Road LLC" and Eric Trump lists himself as the owner of "194 Leather Hill Road LLC."</p><p>A money manager from Connecticut, Jeffrey Ferraro, is listed as the company's organizer and in sales records as a representative for the LLC. He was a state delegate at the Republican National Convention in July 2016 and appears with Eric Trump in a photo posted on his Facebook page.</p><p>Neither the Trump Organization's spokeswoman nor its general counsel acknowledged requests to discuss the property. An email to Trump Jr. about the property was not returned.</p><h2>Neighborly disputes</h2><p>Berghold, an active Democrat and no fan of the president, said that after she confronted Ferraro on July 3, he apologized and said they would keep down the noise. She said when she confronted Ferraro about the shooting, he said that his "partners have the Secret Service coming, and they shoot, too."</p><p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table float_right"><div><div class="image on-image"><img src="https://static-ssl.businessinsider.com/image/5a845aced0307257008b468f-2000/ap18036713317341.jpg" alt="trump shooting range" data-mce-source="Seth Wenig/AP" data-mce-caption="A wooden tower seen on the property" data-link="http://www.apimages.com/metadata/Index/Trump-Shooting-Range/6da21e94e4264cdca2c3b3e6514ce7d4/4/0" /><p class="source"><span><a href="http://www.apimages.com/metadata/Index/Trump-Shooting-Range/6da21e94e4264cdca2c3b3e6514ce7d4/4/0">Seth Wenig/AP</a></span></p><p class="caption">A wooden tower seen on the property</p></div><p></p></div></div></p><p>A spokeswoman for the Secret Service said the agency had no comment. Ferraro would not discuss whether Secret Service agents shoot on the property.</p><p>Ferraro obtained a license from the state's Department of Environmental Conservation granting the property the right to act as a noncommercial shooting preserve for invited guests and relatives only. The license is set to expire in April.</p><p>Ferraro said he was the primary person in charge of the company that owns the land. He would not discuss how he knows the Trumps or their ownership of the property and would not discuss the use of exploding targets. He said there was no shooting range on the land and said no one has visited the tract without him being there.</p><p>"Who I bring and what I do on my private property, as long as it's within my legal rights, is not a story for anyone," he said. He called the Trumps "private citizens just like anyone else."</p><p>"You're not asking me about other guests who are up there who are better known than the names you mention," he said, but declined to elaborate. "Guns make noise. That's all I can tell you."</p><p>No complaints about the property have been lodged with the Town of Dover, which governs the hamlet of Wingdale, said Donn Andersen, the town's building inspector. He said there was nothing in the town code governing the use of exploding targets, and the tower wouldn't require a permit since it's not occupied. The chapter of the town's code on noise makes no mention of guns, shooting or target practice.</p><p>The Trumps have deep ties to Dutchess County, a red-leaning part of the state in the bucolic Hudson Valley that voted narrowly for Hillary Clinton in the 2016 election. The president's brother, Robert, lives in nearby Millbrook and the family business owns and operates the Trump National Golf Club Hudson Valley in Hopewell Junction.</p><h2>Secondhand sightings of Eric and Don, Jr.</h2><p>Trump Jr. and Eric Trump are avid hunters and fishermen, but their presence in the tightknit upstate community has become known only through the rumor mill. Ferraro, not the Trumps, introduced himself to neighbors when the property was acquired in 2013, though one neighbor met Trump Jr. after the election, neighbors said. Dougherty said he has seen a white Range Rover with Eric Trump's initials on the license plates drive to the property on days when there is loud shooting.</p><p>Others said that since the presidential campaign, it was clear the Trumps were around because they were accompanied by Secret Service agents traveling in black SUVs.</p><p>The property sits at the end of a dirt-packed road in Wingdale where a metal gate stops uninvited guests. Around the time of Donald Trump's presidential campaign, orange posters warning visitors that the area was patrolled by the Dutchess County Sheriff's Office began to appear, neighbors said.</p><p>The previous owners of the land, which on one side abuts the old potter's field of an abandoned state psychiatric hospital said to be haunted, told the AP they knew they were selling to an anonymous buyer who wanted to hunt on the property but had no idea the Trumps were behind the purchase.</p><p>During negotiations, said Joe Kleinman - who with his wife, Jocelyn, sold the property in August 2013 for $665,000 - the buyer's agent tried to reduce the price by invoking a 1991 state court decision that requires buyers disclose to sellers if a property is known to be haunted.</p><p>Kleinman refused, saying anyone who truly believed it was haunted would either abandon the sale or pay a premium.</p><p>"That was the end of that conversation," he said.</p>    <div class="margin-top">        <h3>NOW WATCH: <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/elon-musk-launch-tesla-roadster-mars-spacex-falcon-heavy-2018-2">Watch SpaceX launch a Tesla Roadster to Mars on the Falcon Heavy rocket - and why it matters</a></h3>        <div>            <iframe class="bijwplayerclass" data-player="jwplayer" src="https://content.jwplatform.com/players/xtRsrBk1-CEZHWCBG.html" width="100%" height="100%" frameborder="0" scrolling="auto" style="margin:0px;" allowfullscreen=""></iframe><script>function receiveMessage(event){ console.log(event.data.fullscreen); Android.fullscreen(event.data.fullscreen); }window.addEventListener("message", receiveMessage, false);</script>        </div>    </div>

Eric and Donald Trump, Jr. own a massive private hunting preserve in upstate New York - and neighbors say it sounds like a 'war zone'

<p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"><img src="https://static-ssl.businessinsider.com/image/5c004c4b8eb7e8057a0fd3d7-1500/commercial-private-moon-lander-lunar-surface-earth-illustration-lockheed-martin-.jpeg" border="0" alt="commercial private moon lander lunar surface earth illustration lockheed martin " data-mce-source="Lockheed Martin" data-mce-caption="An illustration showing Lockheed Martin's design for its McCandless Lunar Lander." data-link="https://news.lockheedmartin.com/2018-11-29-Lockheed-Martin-Selected-for-NASAs-Commercial-Lunar-Lander-Payload-Services-Contract" /><p class="source"><span><a href="https://news.lockheedmartin.com/2018-11-29-Lockheed-Martin-Selected-for-NASAs-Commercial-Lunar-Lander-Payload-Services-Contract">Lockheed Martin</a></span></p><p class="caption">An illustration showing Lockheed Martin's design for its McCandless Lunar Lander.</p></div><p></p></div></div></p><ul class="summary-list"><li><strong>It's been nearly half a century since <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/category/nasa" target="_blank" rel="noopener">NASA</a> last landed a spacecraft on the lunar surface.</strong></li><li><strong>On Thursday, the space agency announced it is offering up to $2.6 billion in contracts to nine American companies in hopes of landing on the <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/category/moon" target="_blank" rel="noopener">moon</a> by 2022.</strong></li><li><strong>NASA wants the companies to submit bids to fly the agency's experiments aboard commercial <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/category/moon-missions" target="_blank" rel="noopener">moon landers</a>. </strong></li><li><strong>The administrator of NASA hopes the program will help forge a "robust marketplace" for faster, lower-cost <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/category/commercial-space-flight" target="_blank" rel="noopener">commercial</a> exploration of the moon and eventually Mars.</strong></li></ul><p>The last time a NASA spacecraft safely landed on the moon was in December 1972. Nearly half a century after Apollo 17, though, the space agency is itching to return.</p><p>NASA announced on Thursday that it's offering up to $2.6 billion in contracts to nine American companies to get the agency back to the lunar surface.</p><p>NASA isn't going to buy the company's lunar landers outright, nor will it take responsibility for launching, landing, or controlling the robots. Instead, NASA wants the private sector to deal with those challenges and bid on the opportunity to take NASA's experiments to the moon.</p><p>"We're doing something that's never been done before," <a href="https://www.nasa.gov/about/highlights/bridenstine-biography.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Jim Bridenstine</a>, NASA's administrator, said during a live broadcast on Thursday. "When we go to the moon, we want to be one customer of many customers in a robust marketplace between the Earth and the moon."</p><p><em><strong>Read more</strong>: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/moon-missions-why-astronauts-have-not-returned-2018-7" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Astronauts explain why nobody has visited the moon in more than 45 years - and the reasons are depressing</a></em></p><p>Bridenstine added that the goal is take advantage of emerging international demand - both commercial and from other nations' space agencies - to land on and exploit the moon's resources.</p><p>He views the $2.6 billion in potential contracts (it's unlikely all of this money would be spent) as a way to spur companies to "compete on cost and innovation so that we, as NASA, can do more than we've ever been able to do before."</p><h2>A lunar exploration program led by <keyword id="41551" type="ENTERTAINMENT" weightage="100" keywordseo="science">science</keyword></h2><p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"><img src="https://static-ssl.businessinsider.com/image/5b7af70e04f162fd2c8b46f8-2400/ice-water-map-moon-lunar-north-south-poles-polar-deposits-shadowed-craters-max-temperature-pnas-lro-nasa-178152.jpg" border="0" alt="ice water map moon lunar north south poles polar deposits shadowed craters max temperature pnas lro nasa 178152" data-mce-source="PNAS" data-mce-caption="A map of &amp;quotcold traps&quot; inside lunar craters at the moon's north pole (left) and south pole (right). Green and teal dots show locations where water ice may be present at or near the surface." data-link="http://www.pnas.org/cgi/doi/10.1073/pnas.1802345115" /><p class="source"><span><a href="http://www.pnas.org/cgi/doi/10.1073/pnas.1802345115">PNAS</a></span></p><p class="caption">A map of "cold traps" inside lunar craters at the moon's north pole (left) and south pole (right). Green and teal dots show locations where water ice may be present at or near the surface.</p></div><p></p></div></div></p><p>The effort is a new phase of NASA's <a href="https://www.nasa.gov/feature/nasa-expands-plans-for-moon-exploration-more-missions-more-science">Commercial Lunar Payload Services program</a> (CLPS), which aims to encourage commercial moon missions. Bridenstine said NASA's scientific division will decide how the money is spent, not its human exploration division.</p><p>"The moon is full of secrets that we don't know yet," <a href="https://science.nasa.gov/about-us/leadership/Thomas-Zurbuchen" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Thomas Zurbuchen</a>, NASA's associate administrator for science, said during today's briefing.</p><p>Zurbuchen explained that the agency will create a catalog of payloads for the companies to bid on taking to the moon. The first round of proposals are due in January, NASA said in <a href="https://www.nasa.gov/press-release/nasa-announces-new-partnerships-for-commercial-lunar-payload-delivery-services" target="_blank" rel="noopener">a release</a>. The first missions could fly to the moon as soon as 2019, though possibly as late as 2022.</p><p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table float_right"><div><div class="image on-image"><img src="https://static-ssl.businessinsider.com/image/5bbe8e0b9fb84c49bc27e914-2000/deep-space-lunar-gateway-boeing.jpg" border="0" alt="deep space lunar gateway boeing" data-mce-source="Boeing" data-mce-caption="An illustration of a Lunar Orbital Platform-Gateway concept for NASA by Boeing." /><p class="source"><span>Boeing</span></p><p class="caption">An illustration of a Lunar Orbital Platform-Gateway concept for NASA by Boeing.</p></div><p></p></div></div></p><p>In addition to enabling science experiments that might refine what we know about the age of the solar system and universe, CLPS could also be a stepping stone toward human space exploration.</p><p>If successful, the program could pinpoint places to explore with NASA's "<a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/nasa-mars-crewed-exploration-plans-sls-2017-4">Lunar Orbital Platform-Gateway</a>": a human space station to be built <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/earth-moon-distance-edge-of-outer-space-2018-5">in the vicinity of the moon</a> some time in the 2020s.</p><p>"On the moon there is water. On the moon, there are precious resources," Zurbuchen said. "We want to learn how to use these resources because - guess what? - we want to go back with humans and actually use those resources for us to bring back to Earth or to fuel, to breathe, to drink."</p><p><em><strong>Read more</strong>: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/moon-ice-deposits-crater-map-lunuar-base-2018-8">The moon has ice on its surface in hundreds of places - and it could be the 'first step in building a space economy'</a></em></p><p>Water can be turned into hydrogen and oxygen, which can then be used as rocket fuel to power ambitious deep-space exploration (including that of Mars). So later on, NASA may use this competition to solicit <a href="https://spacenews.com/nasa-to-buy-rides-on-commercial-landers-by-years-end/">much larger landers</a> that could take people to and from the lunar surface in the late 2020s.</p><p>"Ultimately we're going to take it all the way to Mars from the moon," Bridenstine said. "We want to take advantage of the water ice that we believe is available in the hundreds of billions of tons on the surface of the moon."</p><h2>The 9 companies invited to compete for NASA's billions</h2><p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"><img src="https://static-ssl.businessinsider.com/image/5bfeacc7da27f852f804d683-2400/astrobotic-technology-peregrine-robotic-moon-lander-spacecraft.jpg" border="0" alt="astrobotic technology peregrine robotic moon lander spacecraft" data-mce-source="Astrobotic Technology" data-mce-caption="An illustration of Astrobotic Technology's Peregrine moon lander." data-link="https://www.astrobotic.com/" /><p class="source"><span><a href="https://www.astrobotic.com/">Astrobotic Technology</a></span></p><p class="caption">An illustration of Astrobotic Technology's Peregrine moon lander.</p></div><p></p></div></div></p><p>In alphabetical order, these are the nine companies that NASA thinks are up to the task of getting its experiments to  the moon (and maybe back):</p><ul><li><a href="https://www.astrobotic.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Astrobotic Technology</a> (based in Pittsburgh)</li><li><a href="http://www.deepspacesystems.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Deep Space Systems</a> (based in Littleton, Colorado)</li><li><a href="https://www.draper.com/business-areas/space" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Draper</a> (based in Cambridge, Massachusetts)</li><li><a href="https://fireflyspace.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Firefly Aerospace, Inc.</a> (based in Cedar Park, Texas)</li><li><a href="https://www.intuitivemachines.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Intuitive Machines, LLC</a> (based in Houston)</li><li><a href="https://www.lockheedmartin.com/en-us/capabilities/space.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Lockheed Martin Space</a> (based in Littleton, Colorado)</li><li><a href="https://www.masten.aero/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Masten Space Systems, Inc.</a> (based in Mojave, California)</li><li><a href="http://www.moonexpress.com/">Moon Express</a> (based in Cape Canaveral, Florida)</li><li><a href="https://www.orbitbeyond.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">OrbitBeyond</a> (based in Edison, New Jersey)</li></ul><p>NASA said this list may expand, and these companies will not be alone in their commercial efforts.</p><p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"><img src="https://static-ssl.businessinsider.com/image/5a7a56eee559f024008b4ab8-2000/rtx4rkt8.jpg" border="0" alt="Falcon heavy launch spacex" data-mce-source="Thom Baur/Reuters" /><p class="source"><span>Thom Baur/Reuters</span></p></div><p></p></div></div></p><p>Many of the nine companies use subcontractors to build landing and avionics systems, and all of them will require private rocket rides to the moon, since <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/nasa-sls-replacement-spacex-bfr-blue-origin-new-glenn-2018-11">NASA's Space Launch System</a> won't be ready to fly for years.</p><p>SpaceX, the aerospace company founded by Elon Musk, has a <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/falcon-heavy-spacex-epic-rocket-launch-in-person-2018-2">new Falcon Heavy rocket</a> that's powerful enough to <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/spacex-moon-mission-falcon-heavy-rocket-experience-2018-1">send a large spacecraft</a> or multiple small landers to the moon for perhaps less than $100 million.</p><p>There's also Blue Origin, founded by Jeff Bezos. In October, Blue Origin said it's "in the conceptual design phase" of building a large lunar lander called <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/jeff-bezos-blue-origin-lunar-lander-2018-10">"Blue Moon."</a> The company is also creating a <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/blue-origin-vs-spacex-falcon-heavy-vs-new-glenn-2016-9">reusable rocket system called New Glenn</a>, which may take flight in 2020.</p><p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"><img src="https://static-ssl.businessinsider.com/image/5a999400aae605de068b46df-1523/new-glenn-rocket-launch-flight-moon-earth-illustration-blue-origin.jpg" border="0" alt="new glenn rocket launch flight moon earth illustration blue origin" style="color: #000000;" data-mce-source="Blue Origin" data-mce-caption="An illustration of Blue Origin's reusable New Glenn rocket launching toward space." data-link="https://www.blueorigin.com" /><p class="source"><span><a href="https://www.blueorigin.com">Blue Origin</a></span></p><p class="caption">An illustration of Blue Origin's reusable New Glenn rocket launching toward space.</p></div><p></p></div></div></p><h2>The Peregrine lander</h2><p>One of the nine companies NASA named, Astrobotic, formed in 2007 during the Google Lunar X Prize. That $20 million competition was intended to spur private exploration of the moon, but the contest <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/ap-google-lunar-x-prize-competition-ends-without-a-winner-2018-1">shuttered in 2018 without a winner.</a> However, Astrobotic continued developing a small lunar lander called Peregrine. (Prior to NASA's announcement, Business Insider <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/nasa-return-moon-mission-commercial-companies-announcement-2018-11">independently confirmed</a> that Astrobotic would be one of the commercial partners.)</p><p>In March, Astrobotic was <a href="https://www.spaceflightinsider.com/missions/commercial/astrobotic-ready-become-delivery-service-moon/">reportedly</a> working with aerospace company United Launch Alliance (ULA) to find room on a rocket that could fly Peregrine to the moon sometime in 2020. Space <keyword id="6355005" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="news">News</keyword> <a href="https://spacenews.com/former-google-lunar-x-prize-teams-focused-on-new-commercial-and-government-opportunities/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">reported</a> in May that Astrobotic was preparing to bring 12 payloads to the lunar surface.</p><p>Then in August, Astrobotic received $10 million from NASA to create a "low-cost, reliable, high-performance, stand-alone" system to land a commercial lunar spacecraft on the moon. The funding was part of $44 million in awards that NASA gave to companies developing <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/nasa-tipping-point-private-space-exploration-funding-2018-8">"tipping point" technologies</a> for space exploration.</p><p>Unlike previous efforts by NASA to get back to the lunar surface - all of which sputtered out - Bridenstine said the CLPS program will succeed.</p><p>"This is not going to be 'Lucy and the Football' again," he said, referring to the famous "Peanuts" <a href="https://slate.com/culture/2014/10/the-history-of-lucys-pulling-the-football-away-from-charlie-brown-in-peanuts.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">comic</a> (in which Charlie Brown never gets to kick a football).</p><p>"Everybody is ready to go back to the moon," Bridenstine added.</p>    <div class="margin-top">        <h3>NOW WATCH: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/nasa-insight-mars-850-million-dollar-drill-2018-11">NASA sent an $850 million hammer to Mars and it could uncover clues to an outstanding mystery in our solar system</a></h3>        <div>            <iframe class="bijwplayerclass" data-player="jwplayer" src="https://content.jwplatform.com/players/0aF865m5-CEZHWCBG.html" width="100%" height="100%" frameborder="0" scrolling="auto" style="margin:0px;" allowfullscreen=""></iframe><script>function receiveMessage(event){ console.log(event.data.fullscreen); Android.fullscreen(event.data.fullscreen); }window.addEventListener("message", receiveMessage, false);</script>        </div>    </div>

You Searched For "falcon landing llc" and got 10 results

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NASA will pay private companies up to $2.6 billion to get the US back to the moon for the first time in nearly 50 years

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Meet the astronaut who may fly Tom Cruise to orbit on the first all-private space mission with SpaceX's help

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