https://www.space.com/nasa-will-buy-moon-dirt-masten-ispace-lunar-outpost
“NASA just bought the rights to four batches of future moon samples for the low, low price of $25,001.
The space agency inked deals with four companies that will collect lunar rock and dirt in the next few years and then sign the material over to NASA. The contracts are designed to get the ball rolling on the extraction, sale and use of off-Earth resources, which agency officials stress are key to extending humanity’s footprint into the final frontier.
“We think it’s very important to establish the precedent that private-sector entities can extract, can take these resources, and NASA can purchase and utilize them to fuel not only NASA’s activities but a whole new dynamic era of public and private development in exploration on the moon and then, eventually, to Mars,” Mike Gold, NASA’s acting associate administrator for international and interagency relations, told reporters during a teleconference today (Dec. 3).
Related: NASA’s full plate of moon missions before astronauts can go
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THE ARTEMIS ACCORDS
https://www.space.com/eight-nations-sign-artemis-accords-moon-exploration