There can be no doubt that Nasa is serious about trying to land astronauts on the moon by 2024.

Even though the Artemis programme has yet to be fully funded, Nasa has issued a call to US companies for a lunar landing spacecraft that will place the first woman and the next man on the moon’s surface. The call has been sent out in draft form twice already this year, allowing private companies to comment and help Nasa shape the request. Now those companies have until 1 November to submit their finished proposals. From these, two companies will be contracted to provide the landers.

The first one to complete its spacecraft will be the one that makes the first landing in 2024. The runner-up will fly on the second Artemis landing mission in 2025.

In order to reduce the cost and meet the tight deadline of a workable spacecraft by 2024, Nasa has significantly decreased the number of interim reports that it will expect the contractors to file.

To maintain safety and quality, however, Nasa’s engineering workforce will be made available to work alongside the companies, and each proposal must include a plan for how that collaboration will take place.

Artemis aims to establish a “sustained” human presence on the moon by 2028.