Jeff Bezos has offered NASA $2 billion in exchange for a moon contract that will allow Blue Origin to land astronauts in space.
The Amazon founder, 57, made history when he went to space last week, and now in an open letter to administrator Bill Nelson on July 26, he offered NASA the hefty amount for a moon contract, Reuters reports.
Bezos is pictured below celebrating after his space capsule New Shepard successfully landed back on Earth.
The billionaire wrote: "Blue Origin is committed to building a future where millions of people live and work in space to benefit the Earth.
"We are convinced that, to advance America's future in space, NASA must now quickly and assuredly return to the Moon. This is why Blue Origin answered NASA's urgent call to develop a Human Landing System.
"I believe this mission is important. I am honored to offer these contributions and am grateful to be in a financial position to be able to do so."
"This offer is not a deferral, but is an outright and permanent waiver of those payments," he added.
Bezos' bid for a moon contract comes after Elon Musk's SpaceX was chosen by NASA in April to build the lunar lander that will make history by taking the first woman and the first person of color to the moon, NASA reports.
"NASA Rules!!" Musk wrote on Twitter after the announcement was made.
The $2.89 billion contract was secured by SpaceX after landers proposed by Bezos' Blue Origin and Dynetics, a subsidiary of Leidos, were rejected.
Bezos added: "Instead of this single-source approach, NASA should embrace its original strategy of competition.
"Without competition, a short time into the contract, NASA will find itself with limited options as it attempts to negotiate missed deadlines, design changes, and cost overruns."
Reuters reports that the capsule is scheduled to bring people to the moon as soon as 2024.
The space agency said that it was aware of Bezos' recent letter proposing a moon contract.
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