NASA has awarded nearly $600 million in new commercial lunar missions as it ramps up work on a permanent Moon Base, selecting three U.S. companies to deliver four robotic science missions to the lunar surface by late 2028. The awards expand the agency’s commercial lunar strategy and mark another step toward establishing long-term infrastructure that could support astronauts, scientific research, and eventually missions to Mars.
The contracts went to Astrobotic, Firefly Aerospace, and Intuitive Machines under NASA’s Commercial Lunar Payload Services (CLPS) initiative. Astrobotic secured two missions worth $297.9 million, while Firefly received $144.2 million for one mission and Intuitive Machines won a $148.3 million award for another.
Commercial moon push
NASA plans to fly upgraded versions of each company’s existing lunar landers to increase mission frequency and improve reliability. Agency officials said lessons from previous flights will shape the new vehicles as commercial providers take on a larger role in lunar exploration.
“These new awards to our commercial partners, totaling nearly $600 million, demonstrate our commitment to accelerating our effort to build a long-term presence on the lunar surface,” said Lori Glaze, associate administrator for NASA’s Human Spaceflight Mission Directorate.
Ryan Stephan, acting director of cargo landers for the Moon Base program, said the faster mission cadence will help NASA refine its operations. He described the campaign as a proving ground for future lunar infrastructure, allowing engineers to learn from each landing and improve subsequent missions.
NASA has now lined up 17 commercial lunar surface deliveries through multiple providers, giving the agency a steady stream of opportunities to test technologies and gather scientific data.
Science meets infrastructure
Each of the four newly awarded missions will carry three NASA instruments designed to support future human exploration. The Stereo Camera for Lunar Plume Surface Studies will capture high-resolution 3D images of how rocket exhaust disturbs lunar dust during landing. Engineers will use the data to improve landing models as larger spacecraft begin operating near one another on the Moon.
Another payload, the Laser Retroreflector Array, will serve as a permanent navigation marker. The small, maintenance-free device reflects laser signals from orbiting spacecraft, helping future missions determine their position with greater accuracy. The third instrument, the Linear Energy Transfer Spectrometer, will measure radiation levels across different landing sites. NASA expects those observations to improve astronaut safety and guide the design of long-duration lunar missions.
Joel Kearns, deputy associate administrator for exploration in NASA’s Science Mission Directorate, said flying the same instruments on multiple landers will create a broader picture of conditions across the Moon. He compared the approach to placing weather stations in different regions on Earth, allowing researchers to build a growing network of environmental data.
Preparing future moon base
NASA also revealed several new opportunities for industry as the Moon Base program expands. Engineers are evaluating whether the proposed PROMISE rover, a hybrid design based on the Perseverance and Curiosity Mars rovers, could prospect for resources and study the lunar surface near the Moon’s south pole.
The agency also plans to seek proposals for additional commercial landers, technology demonstrations, a south polar imaging mission, and a communications relay network linking lunar assets with Earth. Together, those projects aim to establish the hardware and operational experience needed for a sustained American presence on the Moon before astronauts venture onward to Mars.