Jeff Bezos, the boss of Amazon, wants to go to the Moon

Blue Origin, a space company with 2,000 employees financed by the billionaire since its creation in 2000, is thus entering into competition with established companies that are vying to win contracts with NASA for the return of astronauts to the Moon in five years.

This is Blue Moon, Jeff Bezos said during a presentation.

Behind him, curtains revealed a model of a large lander, weighing more than three tons empty and 15 tons with full fuel, equipped with a single engine. It will be able to transport 3.6 tons of cargo on the lunar surface, and 6.5 tons in a larger version.

The lander, standing on four legs, has an upper deck where equipment can be attached. A large spherical fuel tank (liquefied hydrogen) occupies its heart.

It's an incredible vehicle, and it will go to the Moon, said Jeff Bezos.

The lander has been in development for three years, he said. He will be able to take scientific instruments, four small lunar jeeps, but also a future pressurized vehicle for humans, according to him.

It will not be able to embark astronauts itself, but would be large enough to accommodate on its deck an "ascent" vehicle, that is to say a small vessel, built by others, allowing astronauts to ascend from the surface to an orbiting station.

Moon fuel

The goal is to land at the south pole of the Moon, where there is freezing water. Water can be harnessed to produce hydrogen, which would then be used as fuel to explore the solar system.

According to a document subsequently released by Blue Origin, the objective of the first moon landing is 2024, that is to say the date set less than two months ago by Donald Trump's government for the return of the moon. astronauts on the Moon, including the first woman. The boss did not dialogue with the journalists.

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We can help meet this deadline, but only because we started three years ago, said Jeff Bezos.

Tight deadlines

The 2024 target, announced by Vice President Mike Pence in late March, sent NASA into a frenzy of activity, as this mission was originally scheduled for 2028.

Nothing is ready: neither the powerful rocket (SLS) which must transport the vehicles and astronauts. Nor the elements of the future mini-station in lunar orbit which will serve as a relay point. Neither the lander nor the rovers that the astronauts will need.

The US space agency is finalizing the tenders for the lander.

Lockheed Martin presented its project several months ago, capable of transporting passengers.

As for SpaceX, the rival firm founded by Elon Musk, it is concentrating on other projects: a capsule for NASA to connect the International Space Station to Earth, and a large rocket supposed to take customers around the Moon in 2023.

A road to space

Jeff Bezos' announcement was preceded by a long monologue on his passion for space.

He described the futuristic space colonies envisioned by the late physicist Gerard O'Neill, artificial worlds that could provide humanity with an escape from a resource-constrained Earth.

He confirmed that Blue Origin's big rocket, the New Glenn, would be ready in 2021. It will offer "a radical reduction in launch costs", he promised.

The other Blue Origin project is the small New Shepard rocket, intended for ten-minute tourist trips just above the edge of space (100 km altitude).

The rocket, which has passed eleven vacuum tests from Texas, will carry humans for the first time this year, he confirmed.