NASA Picks Blue Origin to Start Moon Base

The push to return to the Moon, Isaacman said, is intended to develop technology, advance science and help the United States compete with China in a renewed space race. He described an iterative strategy modelled on the 1960s Apollo programme, saying the agency would send "landers and rovers and tech demonstrations" before attempting permanent habitation. The estimated $20 billion project is part of President Donald Trump's national space policy, which directs NASA to accelerate the Artemis program and establish a permanently habitable lunar base. Not everyone agrees the schedule is realistic. Most experts told the BBC (the British Broadcasting Corporation) that NASA's timeline is too ambitious, and Dr Simeon Barber, a lunar scientist at the Open University, said it "would not surprise me at all if China gets there first."

Moon Base II, also targeted for late 2026, will send Astrobotic's Griffin lander carrying Astrolab's FLEX rover to develop future astronaut mobility systems. Moon Base III will deliver NASA's Lunar Vertex science mission to study mysterious lunar swirls, along with payloads from the European Space Agency (ESA) and the Korean Space Agency. NASA also announced small "Moonfall" drones designed to scout landing zones and search for subsurface water ice near the south pole. NASA awarded Blue Origin $230.4 million for each of its first two missions, but the company will largely fund the operation itself, making Moon Base One the first privately funded lunar lander mission in history. The agency says these partnerships should cut taxpayer costs and create jobs, with a goal of an operating Moon base between 2029 and 2032. Building on April's Artemis II flight, which sent four astronauts around the Moon for the first time since 1972, Isaacman said he hoped the effort would inspire "a golden age of exploration."