NASA & SpaceX Contracts: Artemis, Commercial Crew & Beyond

NASA's shift toward commercial partnerships has fundamentally reshaped the space industry. Rather than building government-owned hardware, NASA now contracts commercial companies to develop capabilities — from crew transportation to Moon landers to cargo delivery. SpaceX has emerged as NASA's most significant commercial partner, but Boeing, Northrop Grumman, Sierra Space, and dozens of smaller companies hold important NASA contracts.

The Artemis Program Contract Landscape

Artemis — NASA's program to return humans to the Moon — represents the largest concentration of NASA contract value since the Space Shuttle. Key contracts span the launch vehicle, crew transportation, lunar lander, orbital station, and surface systems.

Space Launch System (SLS) — Boeing

Boeing holds the prime contract for the SLS core stage, now valued at over $9 billion across Artemis I through IV. The program has been criticized for cost overruns (original estimates were approximately $7 billion for core stage work through Artemis III). NASA is actively studying transition options as commercial heavy-lift vehicles mature.

Orion Spacecraft — Lockheed Martin

Lockheed Martin is the prime contractor for Orion, the crew capsule that carries astronauts on Artemis missions. Contract value across the Artemis production and operations contract (APOC) is approximately $4.6 billion through 2030. Orion is built using a cost-plus contract structure.

Human Landing System — SpaceX

SpaceX won the sole-source HLS contract in April 2021, beating out Blue Origin and Dynetics in a controversial decision. The contract uses Starship as the lunar lander, requiring it to rendezvous in lunar orbit with Orion and descend to the surface. NASA's selection of SpaceX for a follow-on "Sustaining Lunar Development" contract confirmed SpaceX as the long-term HLS provider.

Blue Origin subsequently won a separate HLS contract for an alternative lander to provide competition and redundancy for later Artemis missions. This dual-provider approach mirrors NASA's Commercial Crew strategy.

Commercial Crew Program

NASA's Commercial Crew Transportation Capability (CCtCap) contracts with SpaceX (Crew Dragon / Dragon 2) and Boeing (CST-100 Starliner) to transport astronauts to the ISS replaced the reliance on Russian Soyuz after the Space Shuttle's retirement.

SpaceX received approximately $2.6 billion under CCtCap and has flown numerous operational crew rotation missions since Demo-2 in 2020. Boeing received $4.2 billion but experienced significant development delays; Starliner's first crewed test flight was completed in 2024 with a troubled return that highlighted propulsion system anomalies.

Commercial Lunar Payload Services (CLPS)

CLPS is a vendor pool contract vehicle with a $2.6 billion ceiling through 2028, funding commercial deliveries of science payloads and technology demonstrations to the lunar surface. Awarded vendors include:

• Astrobotic Technology — Peregrine lander
• Intuitive Machines — Nova-C lander (IM-1 successfully landed in 2024)
• Firefly Aerospace — Blue Ghost lander
• Draper — ballistic lunar transfer mission

Gateway Lunar Space Station Contracts

The Gateway is a small lunar-orbiting space station that will serve as a waypoint for Artemis surface missions. Key contracts include Northrop Grumman for the HALO (Habitation and Logistics Outpost) module and the PPE (Power and Propulsion Element) awarded to Maxar Technologies. SpaceX has a contract to launch Gateway elements on Falcon Heavy.

How to Track NASA Contract Awards

NASA contract awards are published at nasa.gov/news and through the federal procurement data system (SAM.gov). AEROSPACE.BOT's contracts feed aggregates NASA, DoD, and Space Force awards in real-time, categorized by company, program, and contract value.