Overview
- NASA announced the Moon Base program in a Washington briefing and laid out a three‑phase roadmap for a sustained presence at the lunar south pole that begins with robotic reconnaissance and demonstrations.
- The agency scheduled three robotic precursor missions for 2026 using Blue Origin’s Blue Moon, Astrobotic’s Griffin and an Intuitive Machines payload to deliver instruments and test landing and surface operations.
- NASA awarded multi‑hundred‑million‑dollar contracts to commercial partners, including roughly $219 million to Astrolab, $220 million to Lunar Outpost and an initial $188 million to Blue Origin to develop rovers and delivery services.
- The MoonFall campaign, led by JPL hardware and to be transferred by Firefly Aerospace, will place four short‑range drones on the surface to map landing zones and close‑in hazards for future crews.
- Program progress depends on industry meeting technical milestones for a certified human lander, congressional funding and successful Artemis tests, with orbital checks planned in 2027 and crewed surface operations possible as early as 2028 if systems are proven.