NASA Picks Blue Origin to Build Moon Base

The plan is part of a wider effort by the United States to return to the Moon and to compete with China. NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman said the agency will use a step-by-step strategy similar to the 1960s Apollo program, testing landers, rovers and other technology before astronauts live on the Moon. The estimated $20 billion project is part of President Donald Trump's national space policy and the broader Artemis program. However, many experts told the BBC (the British Broadcasting Corporation) that the timeline is too ambitious. Dr Simeon Barber, a lunar scientist at the Open University, said it would not surprise him if China reached the Moon first.

Moon Base II and III, also planned for late 2026, will carry Astrobotic's Griffin lander with Astrolab's FLEX rover, plus NASA's Lunar Vertex science mission and payloads from the European Space Agency (ESA) and the Korean Space Agency. NASA will also send small "Moonfall" drones to scout landing zones and look for underground water ice. Blue Origin will receive $230.4 million for each of its first two missions but will largely pay for them itself, making Moon Base One the first privately funded lunar lander mission in history. NASA hopes to have an operating Moon base between 2029 and 2032.