Every partner will provide "end-to-end" services like integration, launch and operations. And while each of the companies has proposed flying particular equipment, NASA will decide the exact payloads for each flight before the end of the summer. The possible devices will cover everything from general science through to human landing-oriented tasks like identifying the lander position and studying lunar radiation.

These are "just the beginning" of NASA's private partnerships, the administration's Thomas Zurbuchen said. There are already more on deck, with private spaceflight companies like Blue Origin and SpaceX currently competing for the chance to build NASA's crewed lunar lander. It's far too soon to know how well this will work, of course, but it's safe to say this corporate-focused approach is a sharp contrast to the Apollo landings from half a century ago.