{"id":399,"date":"2026-08-03T16:32:38","date_gmt":"2026-08-03T16:32:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/thirstier.news\/?p=399"},"modified":"2026-08-03T16:32:38","modified_gmt":"2026-08-03T16:32:38","slug":"nasa-awards-more-moon-base-science-previews-new-opportunities","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thirstier.news\/?p=399","title":{"rendered":"NASA Awards More Moon Base Science, Previews New Opportunities"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Lauren E. Low<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

Jun 30, 2026<\/span><\/div>\n
RELEASE<\/span>26-053<\/span><\/div>\n
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NASA Headquarters<\/h3>\n

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Three artist renderings depict commercial lunar landers from Astrobotic, Intuitive Machines, and Firefly on the Moon. NASA announced June 30 the landers will deliver more NASA science investigations and technology demonstrations to the lunar surface for NASA\u2019s Moon Base Program.<\/div>\n
Credit: Astrobotic\/Intuitive Machines\/Firefly<\/div>\n<\/figcaption><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

Editor\u2019s note: This release was updated on June 30, 2026, to clarify the engineering development version for the PROMISE rover.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

NASA announced Tuesday the selection of three companies to land four new missions on the Moon in late 2028 as part of the agency\u2019s Moon Base Program. Astrobotic, Firefly Aerospace, and Intuitive Machines will deliver NASA science payloads to the lunar surface as the agency builds the first outpost on another celestial world.<\/p>\n

\u201cThese new awards to our commercial partners, totaling nearly $600 million to land more missions on the Moon with science payloads, demonstrate our commitment to accelerating our effort to build a long-term presence on the lunar surface, and give us more opportunity to develop the skills we need to prosper there,\u201d said Lori Glaze, associate administrator for the Human Spaceflight Mission Directorate at NASA Headquarters in Washington.<\/p>\n

Astrobotic is awarded $297.9 million total for two deliveries, as well as Firefly Aerospace $144.2 million and Intuitive Machines $148.3 million for one delivery each as part of the agency\u2019s CLPS (Commercial Lunar Payload Services) initiative, a backbone of the Moon Base. Each will use updated versions of already-flown lander designs to enable NASA\u2019s increased mission cadence.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re building a proving ground for Moon Base operations,\u201d said Ryan Stephan, NASA\u2019s Moon Base acting director of cargo landers. \u201cAccelerating our Moon mission ordering cadence and launch opportunities enable us to move quickly to learn, iterate, and improve.\u201d<\/p>\n

With 17 lunar surface deliveries across multiple providers, NASA also announced new opportunities for American industry to contribute to the Moon Base. The agency is considering plans to send to the Moon, PROMISE (Polar Rover for Observation, Mapping, and In-Situ Exploration), a hybrid engineering development version of the Mars Perseverance and Curiosity rovers. Agency experts will define potential opportunities for PROMISE to characterize the lunar surface, subsurface, and prospect for resources.<\/p>\n

In addition, NASA plans to solicit proposals in the coming months for lunar landers to deliver a power and avionics technology demonstration, another science manifest, and a South Pole optical imager. NASA also will share an open solicitation for Moon Base technology demonstrations and seek a lunar communication and navigation relay constellation to enable improved communication between Moon Base elements and Earth.<\/p>\n

The awards announced June 30 will play a critical role in establishing the infrastructure for lunar surface operations. The companies are responsible for initiating and executing procurements, providing an assessment of a similar previous lunar lander, and incorporating lessons learned to improve the overall mission reliability. \u00a0<\/p>\n

Each delivery will carry three NASA payloads to the lunar surface:<\/p>\n