NASA lays out moon base plans with landers, buggies and drones at the top of the list
NASA has announced plans for a moon base, ordering landers, rovers, and drones from U.S. companies. The first phase includes contracts awarded to Blue Origin, Astrolab, Lunar Outpost, and Firefly Aerospace. The moon base aims to support astronauts and foster a lunar economy, with a target for initial infrastructure by the 2030s.
- ▪NASA is ordering landers, rovers, and drones for a moon base following the Artemis II mission.
- ▪Contracts have been awarded to four U.S. companies, including Blue Origin and Firefly Aerospace.
- ▪The first astronauts are expected to land on the moon as early as 2028.
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CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. — NASA is already ordering landers, rovers and drones for a sprawling moon base, less than two months after Artemis II’s record-breaking lunar flyaround. The space agency outlined the first phase of its moon base plans on Tuesday, awarding hundreds of millions of dollars in contracts to four U.S. companies. Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin will provide a pair of landers to deliver moon buggies to the lunar surface, at a spot near the moon’s south pole. These so-called lunar terrain vehicles will be built by Astrolab and Lunar Outpost. Firefly Aerospace, which landed successfully on the moon last year, will deliver the first drones to the moon. All this hardware is ideally supposed to arrive before the first Artemis astronauts land on the moon, planned for as early as 2028.
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