Meet The Billionaires Helping NASA Return To The Moon

Forbes

Houston-based Intuitive Machines is hoping to become the first private company to land on the lunar surface this month, one of several billionaire-backed companies NASA is tapping to unlock the moon, lower the agency’s costs and grow the budding space economy as it plans missions to the moon, Mars and beyond.  NASA is working with 14 American companies to help deliver scientific instruments and technology to the lunar surface as part of its Artemis program to send people back to the moon.  Read the full story on Forbes: https://www.forbes.com/sites/roberthart/2024/02/14/meet-the-billionaires-helping-nasa-return-to-the-moon/?sh=565b29d24724  Forbes Daily Briefing shares the best of Forbes reporting on wealth, business, entrepreneurship, leadership and more. Tune in every day, seven days a week, to hear a new story. Subscribe here: https://art19.com/shows/forbes-daily-briefing  Fuel your success with Forbes. Gain unlimited access to premium journalism, including breaking news, groundbreaking in-depth reported stories, daily digests and more. Plus, members get a front-row seat at members-only events with leading thinkers and doers, access to premium video that can help you get ahead, an ad-light experience, early access to select products including NFT drops and more:  https://account.forbes.com/membership/?utm_source=youtube&utm_medium=display&utm_campaign=growth_non-sub_paid_subscribe_ytdescript  Stay Connected Forbes newsletters: https://newsletters.editorial.forbes.com Forbes on Facebook: http://fb.com/forbes Forbes Video on Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/forbes Forbes Video on Instagram: http://instagram.com/forbes More From Forbes:  http://forbes.com  Forbes covers the intersection of entrepreneurship, wealth, technology, business and lifestyle with a focus on people and success.

Transcript

00:00 Here's your Forbes daily briefing for Friday, February 16th.

00:05 Today on Forbes, meet the billionaires helping NASA return to the moon.

00:10 Houston-based Intuitive Machines is hoping to become the first private company to land on the lunar surface this month.

00:17 One of several billionaire-backed companies, NASA is tapping to unlock the moon,

00:22 lower the agency's costs, and grow the budding space economy as it plans missions to the moon, Mars, and beyond.

00:29 Early yesterday morning, Intuitive Machines' IM-1 moon lander mission launched from Florida,

00:35 hoping to become the first U.S. lunar touchdown in more than a half-century.

00:39 If successful, the firm will become the first private company to touchdown on the lunar surface.

00:45 Three have tried and failed before it.

00:47 Astrobotic, whose Peregrine lander burned up in Earth's atmosphere.

00:51 Japanese firm iSpace, whose lander smashed into the lunar surface last year.

00:56 And Israel's Space IL, which attempted to land on the moon's Sea of Serenity in 2019.

01:02 Intuitive Machines was co-founded by Kamal "Cam" Ghaffarian,

01:06 who chairs its board and is worth an estimated $2.3 billion,

01:10 which he's generated by space-related ventures.

01:14 NASA is working with 14 American companies to help deliver scientific instruments and technology

01:19 to the lunar surface as part of its Artemis program to send people back to the moon.

01:24 The first nine companies joined NASA's Commercial Lunar Payload Services, or CLPS, scheme in 2018,

01:32 including Pittsburgh-based Astrobotic Technology,

01:34 whose Peregrine mission marked both the program's first launch and first failure

01:39 after a fuel leak dashed hopes of it landing on the moon and sent it crashing back to Earth.

01:44 Billionaire couple Aaron and Fateh Osman, respectively worth $3.4 billion and $3.3 billion,

01:51 founded and now lead the Sierra Nevada Corporation, one of five companies added to the scheme in 2019.

01:57 However, Sierra has yet to be awarded a CLPS contract.

02:02 Elon Musk's SpaceX also joined in 2019 and is yet to be awarded a contract under CLPS,

02:08 although the company has already inked valuable deals with NASA

02:11 and its reusable rocket technology is being used to launch other CLPS missions like Intuitive's IM-1.

02:19 Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, through his space company Blue Origin,

02:23 also joined the program in 2019 and the company is still catching up to SpaceX.

02:28 Similar to Musk's firm, Blue Origin has yet to be awarded a CLPS contract,

02:33 but has lucrative contracts with NASA for other work.

02:36 The companies involved in CLPS are all able to bid for NASA contracts

02:40 and so far the agency has awarded 10 for companies to deliver material to the moon.

02:45 Two have been awarded to Astrobotic and three to Intuitive,

02:49 whose other missions are expected to take place in 2024.

02:52 Texas-based Firefly Aerospace has been awarded two delivery contracts

02:57 and is slated to launch the first of two lunar missions this year,

03:01 where it hopes to land its Blue Ghost lander in the moon's Mare Crisium basin.

03:05 Blue Ghost Mission 2 is scheduled for 2026 and will deliver NASA payloads to the moon's far side,

03:12 as well as deliver a communications satellite into lunar orbit.

03:16 Massachusetts-based Draper is also set to fly to the moon's far side

03:20 and is scheduled to land in the Schrodinger basin in 2025.

03:24 Both of the remaining CLPS missions were cancelled after NASA awarded contracts.

03:29 One mission fell through after the company, Masten Space Systems,

03:33 struggled to stay within budget for the project, ultimately folding and declaring bankruptcy.

03:38 New Jersey-based Orbit Beyond was also awarded a CLPS contract,

03:43 but NASA terminated the deal after the firm said it would be unable to meet timelines for the mission.

03:48 The company is still able to bid for future work under the program,

03:52 which also includes industry titan Lockheed Martin Space,

03:55 Ceres Robotics, Deep Space Systems, and Tyvak Nano Satellite Systems.

04:01 Getting things off of planet Earth is an expensive and risky endeavor.

04:05 Historically, landings on the moon and further afield

04:08 have been the almost exclusive purview of national governments.

04:12 Space programs from just five countries -- the U.S., the Soviet Union, China, India, and Japan --

04:18 have managed the feat, and of these, three only did so recently.

04:22 China first landed in 2013, India did last year,

04:26 and Japan landed its "moon sniper" probe this January.

04:31 For full coverage, check out Robert Hart's piece on Forbes.com.

04:36 This is Kieran Meadows from Forbes. Thanks for tuning in.

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