NASA is going to land on the moon again, maybe as soon as next year.

It will still be a while — no sooner than 2024 — before any astronauts return, but NASA plans to send experiments and technology packages on a series of small robotic landers carrying to the lunar surface.

On Friday, NASA announced the first orders for those deliveries, awarding them to Astrobotic Technology of Pittsburgh, Intuitive Machines of Houston and Orbit Beyond of Edison, N.J.

NASA officials said a hands-off approach — the companies will design, build and operate the spacecraft, not NASA — would speed the work at a lower cost. The agency also made its decisions in a few months, a quicker pace than most NASA programs.

“NASA is just a customer here,” said Chris Culbert, the manager of the program, known as Commercial Lunar Payload Services, or CLPS, for short. “NASA is taking a back seat role, if you will, in how we participate.”