Lockheed Martin Gets $4.6 Billion Contract for NASA's Moon Missions

   By Kimberly Chin 
 

Lockheed Martin Corp. (LMT) has finalized a roughly $4.6 billion contract with the National Aeronautics and Space Administration to deliver six Orion spacecraft for the space agency's undertaking to send astronauts to the Moon and back.

The aerospace and defense company said NASA will initially order three Orion spacecraft for its Artemis III to V space missions. By fiscal 2022, the agency plans to order an additional three spacecraft for its Artemis VI to VIII missions. Under the contract, NASA could order up to 12 spacecraft in total through Sept. 30, 2030, Lockheed said.

Lockheed also said its first spacecraft to be delivered under the contract is expected to carry the first woman to the Moon in 2024.

In July, the Bethesda, Md., company completed production of NASA's Orion spacecraft capsule for the Artemis I mission to the Moon. That mission will be uncrewed.

Write to Kimberly Chin at [e-mail]

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

September 23, 2019 17:41 ET (21:41 GMT)

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