NASA picks Blue Origin for first 2026 moon base mission
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- NASA announced three uncrewed lunar missions for 2026 to begin constructing a $20bn moon base, with "more than a dozen" follow-on missions planned in coming years to test systems and equipment
- Blue Origin was chosen over SpaceX for the first mission — as early as fall — receiving $230.4m per mission from NASA while largely self-funding the rest of the operation
- The inaugural mission, dubbed "Moon Base One" and billed as the first privately funded lunar lander flight, will send Blue Origin's cryogenically propelled Endurance cargo lander to the Shackleton de Gerlache Ridge at the moon's south pole
- NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman said both Blue Origin and SpaceX will be evaluated during next year's Artemis III test in lower Earth orbit before NASA picks a crew lander for the planned 2028 Artemis IV human return
- Smaller contracts also went to Lunar Outpost (lunar rovers) and Firefly Aerospace, which in March 2024 became the first private operator to soft-land on the moon with its Blue Ghost lander
- The blueprint targets "operating capability" between 2029 and 2032 and a "semi-permanent presence" from 2032 onward, fulfilling Trump's national space policy directive to land humans on the moon ahead of China
Why it matters: Handing Blue Origin the first moon base mission — with NASA contributing only $230.4m per flight while Bezos covers the rest — cements the company's flagship role in the Artemis program and gives it a cargo-lander proving ground over SpaceX before the 2028 crewed return decision, while the 2029-2032 operating-capability deadline crystallizes the U.S.-China race Trump has made official policy.
