NASA Unveils New Details About the Future Moon Base and the Missions Laying the Groundwork to Build It

The first three missions are targeted to launch this year. They’ll involve lunar landers developed by several aerospace companies, including Blue Origin, and deliver scientific instruments and a rover

May 27, 2026 4:47 p.m.

Four pieces of technology on a stage — From left: replicas of the Blue Origin lander, Astrolab rover, Lunar Outpost rover and the Firely orbiter. NASA / Aubrey Gemignani

Humans are heading back to the moon, and this time, they want to maintain a long-term presence there. That means future lunar visitors will need a place to stay.

On May 26, NASA revealed new details about this much-talked-about future moon base, including the private companies that will be participating in the upcoming missions paving the way toward its establishment.

“The moon base will be America’s and humanity’s first outpost on another celestial world,” NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman says in a statement. “Every mission, crewed and uncrewed, will be a learning opportunity as we return to the lunar surface, build the infrastructure to stay and master the skills required to live and operate in one of the most demanding and dangerous environments imaginable.”

The first three missions of the Moon Base program are all slated to launch this year.

Moon Base 1, which could launch as early as fall, will involve a lunar lander built by Blue Origin, a Washington-based aerospace company owned by Amazon founder Jeff Bezos. It will deliver payloads, including scientific instruments to help researchers study how rocket thrusters affect the moon’s surface and to help spacecraft determine locations, and demonstrate capabilities that lower the risk of putting people on our celestial companion’s surface. The lander will touch down near the lunar south pole, where the moon base is planned for construction.

Notably, Blue Origin will be footing at least part of the bill itself, making this first mission “the first privately funded lunar lander mission in history,” Isaacman said in a May 26 press conference.

Moon Base 2 will use a lander made by Astrobotic Technology, a Pittsburgh-based aerospace company, to deliver more than 1,100 pounds of cargo, including a rover developed by the California-based aerospace company Astrolab. Moon Base 3 will involve delivering payloads from research institutions, selected through a NASA program, and those from the European Space Agency and the Korea Astronomy and Space Science Institute.

The agency has chosen Astrolab and Lunar Outpost, a Colorado-based space robotics company, to build the first phase of lunar terrain vehicles, awarding them $219 million and $220 million, respectively.

In a broader financial perspective, “we’re talking about a $20 billion investment over the next seven years to establish that enduring presence on the moon,” Isaacman tells Gadi Schwartz on NBC’s “Stay Tuned Now.”

Quick fact: How will the moon base have electricity?

NASA wants the moon base to be powered by a nuclear fission reactor. It’s a device that provides electricity by splitting atoms, usually uranium, which releases energy. The agency hopes that building a Mars-bound spacecraft propelled by such a reactor will pave the way.

But Earth’s familiar satellite is by no means the final destination. The knowledge gained from building the lunar base “will be necessary for when we send astronauts to Mars, plant the stars and stripes, build the outpost there and then be able to bring them back home safely to tell us about it,” Isaacman adds.

The world is experiencing a second space race, this time between the United States and China, the latter of which aims to put humans back on the moon by 2030, reports the BBC’s Georgina Rannard. The U.S., meanwhile, is shooting for 2028 with the Artemis 4 mission.

But “it would not surprise me at all if China gets there first,” Simeon Barber, a lunar scientist at Open University in England, tells the BBC, noting that the Artemis program has historically faced major setbacks and delays.

Regardless, NASA is planning dozens of missions—more of which will be announced this year—to build a sustained human presence on the moon.

“To get there, we’re going to break it up in phases, and phase one has already started,” Carlos García-Galán, Moon Base program executive, said during the press conference. “From now through ’29, we’re going to work to make sure that getting to the lunar surface is a high-reliability endeavor.”

Phase two will involve the construction of permanent infrastructure, and phase three will be permanent habitation, he added.

“For those waiting patiently,” Isaacman said at the event, “the grand return is close at hand, and we will not slow down.”

You Might Also Like

Get the latest stories in your inbox every weekday.