Bezos' Blue Origin wins NASA contract to build astronaut lunar lander

FILE PHOTO: The NASA logo is seen at Kennedy Space Center ahead of the NASA/SpaceX launch of a commercial crew mission to the International Space Station in Cape Canaveral, Florida, U.S., April 16, 2021. REUTERS/Joe Skipper

WASHINGTON (Reuters) -A team led by Jeff Bezos' space company Blue Origin won a coveted NASA contract to build a spacecraft that will send astronauts to and from the moon's surface, NASA's chief announced on Friday, capping a high-stakes contest.

NASA's decision will give the agency a second ride to the moon under its Artemis program, after it awarded Elon Musk's SpaceX $3 billion in 2021 to land astronauts on the moon for the first time since the final Apollo mission in 1972.