An asteroid that orbited near Earth for a few months as a mini-moon may be a chunk of the moon that was blasted off by an impact thousands of years ago.

The joint venture between Thales and Leonardo will be tasked with building the Argonaut lunar lander for cargo delivery to the moon, it said in a press release. "This new element of the Artemis program will serve to facilitate long-duration manned lunar exploration missions,

Thales Alenia Space signed a contract valued at 862 million euros ($898.4 million) with the European Space Agency to develop a lander to ship cargo to the Moon. The aerospace company--a joint venture between French group Thales and Italy's Leonardo--said Thursday that as part of the deal it would build the Lunar Descent Element for ESA's Argonaut Mission.

Thales Alenia Space, a joint venture between Thales and Leonardo, on Thursday announced a 862 million euro ($896.9 million) order from the European Space Agency for the development of the Argonaut lunar lander.