NASA plans for up to three more lunar missions before the end of 2026

Source: Engadget

Overview

NASA has released a preliminary schedule for the first three Moon Base missions, which will deliver payloads to the lunar surface and test equipment from Blue Origin and Astrolab. These missions follow the crewed Artemis II flight in April and are part of a broader effort to establish a permanent presence on the Moon.

Mission Schedule

Moon Base I

• Launch window: No earlier than fall 2026
• Lander: Blue Origin Blue Moon Mark 1 Endurance
• Payloads: Lunar Plume‑Surface Studies instrument and cameras

Moon Base II

• Lander: Astrobiotic’s Griffin lander
• Payload: Astrolab’s FLIP rover, intended to help the startup design future lunar terrain vehicles

Moon Base III

• Lander: Intuitive Machines’ Nova‑C Trinity lander
• Payloads: Experiments to study lunar swirls (NASA science page) and instruments for the European Space Agency and the Korea Astronomy and Space Science Institute

Contracts and Partners

• Astrolab – awarded a $219 million contract to develop a lunar terrain vehicle (LTV).
• Lunar Outpost – awarded a $220 million contract for a separate LTV.
• Blue Origin – received $118 million to deliver rovers to the Moon and is also developing landers for future missions.
• NASA recently completed vacuum‑chamber testing of the Blue Origin lander for Moon Base I (NASA announcement) and has received a second‑generation crew‑capable prototype for training (Engadget report).

Updated Artemis Timeline

The new mission schedule was announced in February and pushes the human return to the lunar surface to 2028 (Engadget article).

Future Plans

Before astronauts land, NASA intends to deploy drones to survey potential landing sites as part of the MoonFall mission (JPL MoonFall page).