WASHINGTON, May 26, 2026, 16:52 (EDT)
- NASA’s first phase for the moon base lasts through 2029, with as many as 25 missions planned. That includes 21 landings and up to four tons of cargo.
- Blue Origin, Astrobotic, and Intuitive Machines make up the first group of commercial flights heading to the moon.
- The plan moves pressure away from policy and onto hardware after Artemis II’s April flight.
NASA on Tuesday laid out its moon base plans, targeting up to 25 missions and 21 landings near the lunar south pole by 2029. Blue Origin’s Blue Moon Mark 1 lander is set to be among the first. The agency said this initial phase is a test run to figure out what works before it tries keeping astronauts on the moon for longer periods.
NASA is through the first crewed Artemis test flight and now faces the next phase: leaning on private companies for landers, rovers, cargo and power hardware to start building out the moon as infrastructure. Artemis II, carrying four astronauts around the moon, returned safely April 10. NASA said that flight shifted attention to Artemis III and work on the lunar surface.
NASA chief Jared Isaacman said at a Washington briefing that the agency plans to go back to the moon “this time to stay.” He downplayed expectations for a rapid move to a “glass dome moon base,” saying NASA will focus on repeated cargo and robotic trips first, learning from those before going for longer human missions. Chron
Blue Origin’s Endurance lander, flying without a crew, is the key piece in the first stage. NASA said the spacecraft wrapped up environmental tests at Johnson Space Center. It’s set to fly two NASA payloads through Commercial Lunar Payload Services, known as CLPS, which pays private lunar-lander firms for delivery of science and tech gear.
Early missions on the schedule feature Astrobotic’s Griffin-1, which NASA says is headed for Nobile Crater near the lunar south pole with Astrolab’s FLIP rover onboard, plus Intuitive Machines’ IM-3 targeting Reiner Gamma, a lunar swirl of interest to scientists. None are crewed. Instead, these flights are testing cargo delivery, mobility and site scouting.
NASA wants its lunar terrain vehicles, or LTVs, to do double duty as crewed rovers and as remote cargo haulers. The agency isn’t looking to own these vehicles. Instead, it plans to pay for rover services, aiming to keep companies like Intuitive Machines, Lunar Outpost, and Astrolab running the operations, not just making the hardware.
NASA is planning to shift from scouting to building out a real presence on the moon. Under Phase Two, running between 2029 and 2032, the agency wants to start early habitation, test more solar and nuclear systems, roll out new communications nodes and conduct up to 24 cargo landings. Phase Three would start in 2032, targeting regular crew rotations and steady logistics support all year.
Isaacman outlined the same pressure play at ASCEND 2026 last week, saying the “status quo is not going to work” and that NASA would step up across the supply chain. Corey Smith, nuclear engineering lead at Analytical Mechanics Associates, told Aerospace America that “everything’s been a decade away.” Nora Bailey, an astronomer with Neutralino Space Ventures, said it was tough to promote science when “actively divesting in science.” Aerospace America
NASA has SpaceX and Blue Origin in the running for human lunar landers. Artemis III will test docking and other operations with one or both vehicles in low Earth orbit in 2027, ahead of a planned Artemis IV landing in 2028. In March, NASA said it had to accelerate flights, make hardware more standard and “move faster.” NASA
But the risks are hard to ignore. Reuters said in April that SpaceX and Blue Origin still have technical issues, with in-space refueling and lander design updates among them, and NASA’s moon effort is moving ahead as China aims for a crewed lunar landing by 2030. A delay in robotic cargo delivery is easier to manage under a lunar base plan. The crewed landing schedule offers less room for slippage.
NASA’s March shift to a $20 billion lunar surface base has touched off budget and partner issues. The agency decided to scrap the planned Gateway station in lunar orbit and reuse some of its components, creating questions about what happens to hardware already in development and what international partners will do next.
NASA told contractors on Tuesday it needs them to move fast, but the agency won’t just step back and watch. “We will not sit on our hands,” Isaacman said. Carlos García-Galán, who heads the Moon Base program, called Phase One a “science of survival” trial, saying the punishing conditions—heat, cold, darkness, rough ground—could destroy equipment before crews show it works. Chron
Lunar south pole is the current target, with NASA looking at its shadowed craters for possible water ice. NASA wants to test power, mobility, communications and logistics there, since it’s close enough for recovery if things go wrong. Farther out, Mars is the goal. NASA says work on the moon base is to get ready for bigger missions later.
