The space agency has begun placing orders for equipment needed to establish a lunar outpost, just weeks following the successful Artemis II mission that broke records for deep space travel.
On Tuesday, NASA revealed details for the initial stage of constructing a moon base, distributing contract awards worth hundreds of millions to four American companies.
Blue Origin, owned by Jeff Bezos, will supply two landing vehicles to transport lunar rovers to the moon’s surface near the south polar region. The moon vehicles will be manufactured by Astrolab and Lunar Outpost. Firefly Aerospace, which achieved a successful moon landing last year, will transport the initial aerial drones to the lunar surface.
The timeline calls for all equipment to reach the moon ahead of the first Artemis crew landing, currently scheduled for 2028 at the earliest.
This past April, four astronauts completed the Artemis II mission by circling the moon, venturing further from Earth than any Apollo crews during their missions in the late 1960s and early 1970s. The upcoming Artemis III mission next year will see astronauts rehearse connecting NASA’s Orion spacecraft with lunar landing vehicles in Earth orbit, which are being developed by Blue Origin and SpaceX, led by Elon Musk.
NASA has set a target of mid-2027 for Artemis III, followed by a two-person lunar landing mission as early as 2028. The lunar base’s second development stage, spanning from 2029 through the early 2030s, will focus on establishing permanent infrastructure including electrical systems. The facility is expected to accommodate astronauts for long-duration stays in dedicated living quarters during the third phase sometime in the 2030s.
“Then we’ll be able to say, ‘Hey, we’re permanently here and we’re not giving it up,’” said NASA’s moon base program executive Carlos Garcia-Galan.
Garcia-Galan pictures a lunar facility extending across hundreds of square miles, with boundaries defined by drones called MoonFall positioned at strategic points.
Isaacman explained that these boundary markers are designed to show consideration for other nations’ spacecraft and equipment that may be operating in the vicinity. He anticipates similar courtesy from other countries.
The lunar base aims to foster commercial lunar activities while supporting scientific studies and preparing for future Mars missions, according to Isaacman.
“For those waiting patiently, the grand return is close at hand and we will not slow down,” Isaacman said. “We are really just getting started.”
