NASA maps a moon base hundreds of square kilometres

NASA’s three-phase – NASA has laid out new, concrete steps toward a permanent lunar presence, starting this year with uncrewed scouting missions and ending with a base near the moon’s south pole planned to span hundreds of square kilometres by the mid-2030s. The agency also detail

On 26 May, in a press conference at NASA’s headquarters in Washington DC, NASA administrator Jared Isaacman laid out a vision that sounds almost audacious: a permanent home on the Moon, eventually stretching across hundreds of square kilometres.

Before astronauts ever move in, NASA wants to learn the ground under their feet. The early phase of the plan leans on autonomous rovers and hopping drones to scout the lunar surface—missions designed to study it in detail. reduce risks for later landing attempts. and test technologies meant to shape future moon vehicles.

NASA’s lunar-base effort sits within Artemis. a programme that has long included plans for a sustained presence but has mainly focused—until recently—on returning humans to the Moon for the first time since the 1970s. Artemis II has already moved the project forward: four astronauts are on a trajectory around the Moon and back to Earth. launched in April this year. What changed this time was the level of specificity around when the base could begin to take shape.

NASA says the programme will run in three phases. The first is set to last until 2029, with the stated goal of securing “reliable access” to the moon’s surface. The second phase runs until 2032 to achieve “initial moon base operating capability.” The actual base—planned near the lunar south pole—belongs to the third phase. lasting up to 2036.

It’s an endgame that has a geography and a scale. NASA’s long-term plan is for astronauts to build a future lunar home near the south pole, sized to be hundreds of square kilometres in extent.

The timeline NASA announced is unusually direct. It targets the first three missions for this year, and says at least a further nine missions will be announced before 2027.

Those first missions won’t be crewed. Moon Base I is planned to launch toward the end of this year and will use a lander built by Blue Origin, the space company founded by Jeff Bezos. Blue Origin has not yet tested a lunar lander.

Two additional missions—Moon Base II and Moon Base III—are also planned for this year. though NASA hasn’t provided launch windows yet. Each will involve a lander from two private companies. Astrobotic will provide its Griffin lander along with an autonomous rover. Intuitive Machines, which has attempted two lunar landings but neither was fully successful, will also supply a lander.

NASA is also funding the next wave of vehicles that could help crews move around once the base is starting to work. Under the agency’s Commercial Lunar Payload Services programme. two companies—Astrolab and Lunar Outpost—will each receive more than $200 million to develop future lunar-terrain vehicles.

Astrolab’s design is described as bulkier and human-operated, able to carry nearly 1000 kilograms and travel at nearly 10 kilometres per hour. Lunar Outpost’s vehicle is aimed to be faster and more flexible: it will move at more than 14 km/h and be capable of moving autonomously.

NASA’s preparation for a base isn’t just about getting there—it’s also about choosing where to land. again and again. The agency also expanded details of its MoonFall mission. In 2028. four drones will make short hopping journeys across the lunar surface. taking high-resolution pictures to find suitable landing sites for future Artemis missions. NASA will build the drones in-house at its Jet Propulsion Laboratory in California. Firefly Aerospace will build the spacecraft that transports the drones from Earth to the Moon.

But even with the new roadmap. some of the most critical pieces of the base remain unfilled in the public record. NASA said the agency still has “scant details” about how a future moon base would be powered. how it would be constructed. and how it would be shielded from harsh radiation in outer space.

Previous NASA administrator Sean Duffy had announced that a nuclear fission reactor would be built on the lunar surface by 2030. In the most recent announcement from NASA—now led by Jared Isaacman—there were no updates on that reactor plan.

NASA Artemis moon base lunar south pole Moon Base I Moon Base II Moon Base III Blue Origin Astrobotic Griffin Intuitive Machines Astrolab Lunar Outpost Commercial Lunar Payload Services MoonFall Firefly Aerospace Jet Propulsion Laboratory autonomous rovers hopping drones lunar terrain vehicles nuclear fission reactor radiation shielding