According to new contracts inked between NASA and four startups, it's somewhere between $1 and $15,000. NASA pledged in September to buy moon rocks from companies that can get robotic rovers to the lunar surface and scoop up samples of the dusty terrain, and the space agency asked for bids from companies all over the world. The program, which NASA hopes will be completed by 2024, the same year the agency hopes to return astronauts to the moon, is among the most unique in US history. The goal is not to glean new information about lunar soil composition or study how various lunar resources can be used. NASA may be the only organization that's currently in the market for buying moon rocks from private companies, but the space agency allowed the companies to name their price.

Source: The Nation December 04, 2020 20:08 UTC