NASA has selected SpaceX to land the first astronauts on the surface of the Moon since 1972, the agency said Friday, in a huge victory for Elon Musk's company.
The contract, worth $2.9 billion, involves the prototype Starship spacecraft that is being tested at SpaceX's south Texas facility.
"Today I'm very excited, and we are all very excited to announce that we have awarded SpaceX to continue the development of our integrated human landing system," said Lisa Watson-Morgan, NASA's Human Landing System program manager.
SpaceX beats out Jeff Bezos' Blue Origin and defence contractor Dynetics to be the sole provider for the system, a surprising break from the past when NASA has chosen multiple companies in case one fails.
Industry analysts said the decision underscores the company, founded by Musk in 2002 with the goal of colonising Mars, as NASA's most trusted private sector partner.
Last year, SpaceX became the first private firm to successfully send a crew to the International Space Station, restoring American capacity to accomplish the feat for the first time since the Shuttle program ended.
For its Moon lander bid, SpaceX put forward its reusable Starship spacecraft, which...
