NASA has announced a major expansion of its lunar base program, awarding new contracts to accelerate the establishment of a permanent US presence near the lunar south pole.
8 companies - SpaceX, Blue Origin, Lockheed Martin, Firefly Aerospace, Intuitive Machines, iSpace USA and Voyager Technologies - have been selected to compete for contracts to supply cargo to the moon within a 10-year framework worth up to 10 billion dollars.
NASA also approved plans to launch PROMISE, a six-wheeled, nuclear-powered lunar rover, in late 2028 to explore underground ice deposits, map resources and identify suitable locations for future infrastructure.
Moza Blue received a $94 million delivery contract, with an additional $140 million option. 6 orders for space transportation totaling approximately 1.3 billion dollars were awarded to Arrow Science and Technology, Blue Origin and Impulse Space. Separately, SpaceX will deploy lunar communications satellites aboard a starship in 2028, while Bee Robotics, Redwire and Yank Technologies will develop energy storage, solar generation and wireless power components for a communications tower and moon.
The initiatives support NASA's goal of returning astronauts to the Moon in 2028 and establishing a permanent human presence there.