NASA has announced a new contract opportunity that will involve it purchasing Moon dust (called regolith) and rocks from a private space company. The intention was announced by NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine in a post this week, with the official stating that utilizing private companies under its Artemis lunar program will help it save money and access new innovations developed by these companies. The new contract is part of this effort.
The new solicitation has been published online; it will be live until October 9, at which point interested companies will need to have their proposals submitted. According to Bridenstine, NASA wants a commercial company to gather space resources for it — meaning the regolith and rocks. A small quantity of both materials will be collected and sold to NASA.
