NASA Begins Plan for First Human Base on the Moon

NASA has launched the first phase of its plan to build a permanent human base on the Moon, awarding contracts worth hundreds of millions of dollars to US companies developing lunar landers, robots, and drones.

The initiative follows the success of the Artemis 2 mission and is designed to support future crewed lunar landings under NASA’s Artemis program.

Under the new contracts, Blue Origin, founded by Jeff Bezos, will develop lunar landing vehicles to transport rovers near the Moon’s south pole.

Meanwhile, Astrolab and Lunar Outpost will build lunar rovers, while Firefly Aerospace will send drones to the lunar surface after its previous landing success.

NASA aims to deploy the equipment ahead of the planned Artemis 3 crewed Moon landing, expected by 2027. Construction of permanent lunar infrastructure, including power systems, is scheduled to begin in 2029.

The agency expects the lunar base to support long-term astronaut missions during the 2030s.