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- NASA has announced exciting updates<\/strong> to its plan to construct a moon base.<\/li>\n
- The announcement included details about lunar rovers<\/strong>, cargo landers, and the MoonFall drones that are set to scout the lunar South Pole in 2028.<\/li>\n
- The moon base is set to span<\/strong> hundreds of square miles, NASA announced.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
NASA originally published this press release on May 26, 2026. Edits by EarthSky.<\/p>\n
Moon base update! NASA unveils next steps<\/h3>\n
On Tuesday, May 26, 2026, NASA unveiled exciting new details about its plan to construct a moon base over the next decade. The agency announced new contracts for lunar rovers and uncrewed cargo landers, and shared more details about the hopping MoonFall drones that are set to explore the lunar surface as soon as 2028.<\/p>\n
NASA leaders also shared target launch timeframes and upcoming moon base milestones. Under this plan, the mission\u2019s second phase, set to begin in 2029, aims to establish short-term human habitation and exploration on the Moon.<\/p>\n
NASA also revealed the impressive scale of the planned moon base. Carlos Garc\u00eda-Gal\u00e1n, the manager of NASA\u2019s moon base program, said during the press conference:<\/p>\n
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We envision the moon base to be hundreds of square miles, with different assets all building up to the objective of permanent lunar presence on the moon.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n
NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman said:<\/p>\n
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The moon base will be America\u2019s and humanity\u2019s first outpost on another celestial world. Every mission, crewed and uncrewed, will be a learning opportunity as we return to the lunar surface, build the infrastructure to stay, and master the skills required to live and operate in one of the most demanding and dangerous environments imaginable. <\/p>\n
We will go for the science, for all we stand to gain from an economic and technological perspective, for the innovations that will make life better here on Earth, and to prepare for where we will inevitably go next.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n
Moon base timeline<\/h3>\n
![\"NASA](\"https:\/\/earthsky.org\/upl\/2026\/05\/moon-base-infographic-NASA-e1779874255116.webp\")
NASA says its moon base will be built through a phased, practical strategy. It\u2019ll start with robotic missions, early demonstrations, and technology experiments, then progress toward semi-permanent infrastructure and ultimately sustained human presence. Image via NASA.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n NASA announced the first three moon base missions to begin building sustained operations. Note that these are all contained within Phase 1 of 3 planned long-term phases.<\/p>\n
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- Moon Base I<\/strong>: Targeted for launch no earlier than fall 2026, this mission will use Blue Origin\u2019s Blue Moon Mark 1 Endurance lander to deliver NASA payloads. Equipment will include the Stereo Cameras for Lunar Plume-Surface Studies instrument to study how thrusters interact with the moon\u2019s surface, and the Laser Retroreflective Array, which helps orbiting spacecraft determine a more precise location using reflected laser light. The mission will land on the Shackleton Connecting Ridge to demonstrate capabilities that reduce risk for future crewed Artemis landing missions in 2028.<\/li>\n
- Moon Base II<\/strong>: Planned for launch later this year, this mission will deliver more than 1,100 pounds of cargo on Astrobotic\u2019s Griffin lander, including Astrolab\u2019s FLIP rover, which will test and refine mobility systems to help with the development of future Lunar Terrain Vehicles (LTVs).<\/li>\n
- Moon Base III<\/strong>: Also targeted for this year, this mission will fly the first payload selected through NASA\u2019s Payloads and Research Investigations on the Surface of the Moon (PRISM) initiative. Its anchor investigation, Lunar Vertex, will fly on Intuitive Machines\u2019 Nova-C Trinity lunar lander and study lunar swirls, or light spots on the surface of the moon, to improve understanding of surface evolution and material behavior under extreme conditions. The mission will include payloads from European Space Agency (ESA) and the Korea Astronomy and Space Science Institute (KASI), reflecting commercial and international participation in moon base activities.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
These missions are the first of more than a dozen missions that will be announced this year, each designed to generate operational data and reduce risk ahead of crewed Artemis surface activities.<\/p>\n
MoonFall update<\/h3>\n
The agency also shared new updates on MoonFall, a mission that will send four drones to fly short hops on the lunar surface as they survey potential landing sites for Artemis astronauts.<\/p>\n
NASA\u2019s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California has been developing the design and testing prototype hardware. It has selected Firefly Aerospace to build the spacecraft that will transport the drones from Earth orbit to the moon. Launch is targeted for 2028.<\/p>\n
The drones will independently land on the lunar surface and then gather high-resolution imagery of hard-to-reach terrain over the course of a single lunar day. After each drone\u2019s final flight, its survive-the-night payload will continue to operate for several months, marking a sustained U.S. presence at the lunar South Pole.<\/p>\n
Garc\u00eda-Gal\u00e1n also revealed in Tuesday\u2019s press conference that these drones could help mark the borders of the moon base:<\/p>\n
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We\u2019re going to be able to basically put them at the corners of the areas where we think we have either key scientific objectives or we want to build up the moon base.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n
- Moon Base II<\/strong>: Planned for launch later this year, this mission will deliver more than 1,100 pounds of cargo on Astrobotic\u2019s Griffin lander, including Astrolab\u2019s FLIP rover, which will test and refine mobility systems to help with the development of future Lunar Terrain Vehicles (LTVs).<\/li>\n
- The announcement included details about lunar rovers<\/strong>, cargo landers, and the MoonFall drones that are set to scout the lunar South Pole in 2028.<\/li>\n