NASA, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, is the United States government agency responsible for space exploration, space technology, and aeronautics research. As a space agency, NASA leads both crewed and robotic missions, develops new space technologies, and conducts research in space science. NASA is known for its partnerships with organizations like ESA and its work on programs like the International Space Station (ISS), the Artemis Program, and the Space Launch System (SLS). Associated keywords include: space exploration, aeronautics, space technology, and scientific discovery.
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NASA’s Human Spaceflight Mission Directorate combines the Exploration Systems Development Mission Directorate and the Space Operations Mission Directorate.
Moon Base Phase One includes the Blue Moon Mark 1 Endurance lander carrying two NASA scientific payloads, including cameras to study engine interaction with lunar dust and a laser retroreflector for precision measurements.
NASA plans to send Artemis astronauts on increasingly complex missions to explore more of the Moon, enable scientific discoveries and economic benefits, establish a sustained human presence on the lunar surface, and lay the groundwork for the first crewed missions to Mars.
NASA awarded Blue Origin a $188 million contract with a potential $280.4 million extension for two work orders to deliver lunar payloads to the lunar south pole region.
NASA intends to scale lunar cargo delivery to 60 metric tons in Phase 2 and 150 metric tons in Phase 3.
Lunar Outpost's NASA contract covers its Pegasus rover, a pared-down version of its Eagle lunar terrain vehicle.
NASA has two Broad Agency Announcements open that solicit industry ideas for lunar surface testing hardware.
NASA's Phase 1 Moon Base plan aims to deliver approximately 4 metric tons of cargo to the lunar surface.
NASA will deliver the new lunar terrain vehicles to the lunar surface using Blue Origin's Mark 1 Endurance lander.
NASA will use an Astrobotic Griffin lander to carry more than 500 kilograms of cargo on the Moon Base 2 mission.
NASA awarded two $220 million contracts for lunar terrain vehicles to Astrolab and Lunar Outpost.
NASA envisions the Moon Base spanning hundreds of square kilometres with distributed assets rather than a centralized habitat.
NASA expects habitats in the Moon Base to be placed on hilltops and nuclear power systems to be positioned a kilometre or more away for radiation protection.
NASA already has one Moon communications constellation contract in place and plans to solicit a second network for higher bandwidth needs.
NASA plans to begin hardware stacking for Artemis III in summer 2026 to support a mid-2027 target launch.
NASA's Moon Base 1 and Moon Base 2 procurement awards total $220 million each, and Blue Origin is being paid $234 million per mission to deliver those rovers.
NASA selected Firefly Aerospace to build the spacecraft that will carry four drones from Earth orbit to the Moon for the MoonFall mission, which is planned for 2028.
NASA announced new contracts for crewed lunar rovers and uncrewed cargo landers for the Moon at its headquarters in Washington, D.C.
NASA's Phase 1 Moon Base plan runs through 2029 and relies heavily on private partners to deliver hardware to the lunar south pole.
NASA executed the lunar terrain vehicle delivery procurement under the Commercial Lunar Payload Services 1.0 framework.