NASA Outlines Three Robotic Missions to Begin Moon Base Construction

NASA announced on Tuesday three uncrewed missions to the Moon’s south pole region that will launch no earlier than this fall and are intended as the initial steps toward building a permanent lunar base. The missions, labeled Moon Base 1, Moon Base 2 and Moon Base 3, will carry scientific instruments, cargo and technology demonstrations.

Officials said the flights are the first of more than a dozen missions planned for announcement this year.

1 will use a privately funded lunar lander to deliver two NASA payloads focused on studying thruster interactions with the lunar surface and improving navigation accuracy. The mission is scheduled to launch no earlier than fall 2026. Moon Base 2 will deliver more than 1,100 pounds of cargo, including a rover, on a lander built by a Pennsylvania-based company.

The payload is intended to inform future operations of lunar terrain vehicles. Moon Base 3 will carry payloads from NASA, the European Space Agency and South Korea’s space agency to study unusual bright surface features known as lunar swirls. Officials described the international participation as evidence that future lunar exploration will involve multiple countries.

NASA also awarded contracts totaling roughly $439 million to two companies to develop autonomous rovers that can later support astronauts. A separate $75 million contract went to a Texas-based firm to build four drones for high-resolution imaging at the south pole, with launch planned for 2028.

Officials outlined a three-phase schedule. The first phase, running through 2029, calls for 25 launches and 21 landings to deliver about four metric tons of cargo. The second phase, from 2029 to 2032, will focus on assembling semi-permanent facilities, and the third phase beginning in 2032 aims for sustained crew presence.

The robotic missions are coordinated with NASA’s Artemis program. The Artemis II flight last month carried four astronauts on a 10-day journey around the Moon, the agency’s first crewed lunar mission in more than 50 years. Artemis III is targeted for 2027, followed by a crewed landing attempt in 2028.