NASA announced Saturday that it has selected SpaceX, Blue Origin, and six other aerospace companies to compete for contracts totaling up to $10 billion to establish a permanent base on the Moon.
The agency revealed the initiative at the MAX POWER aerospace expo and air show at Kennedy Space Center in Florida, expanding its Commercial Lunar Payload Services (CLPS) program. The goal is to enlist private companies to deliver scientific equipment, technology, and infrastructure to the Moon's south pole.
The CLPS framework has a maximum combined value of $10 billion over 10 years. This figure represents a ceiling for future task orders, not an amount already awarded. The selected companies eligible to compete for future lunar delivery missions include Firefly Aerospace, Intuitive Machines, iSpace US, Lockheed Martin Space, Northrop Grumman Space Systems, and Voyager Technologies, in addition to SpaceX and Blue Origin.
"We are building the Moon Base mission by mission," NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman stated. "When our astronauts return to the Moon, they will arrive with the first elements of the Moon Base already waiting for them on the surface."
NASA also increased the maximum value of its existing CLPS contract from $2.6 billion to $4.2 billion to support the initial phase of its Moon base plans.
In a separate development, Blue Origin secured a $94 million contract to deliver NASA’s nuclear-powered PROMISE rover to the lunar South Pole, with an additional $140 million available through a performance-based option. The rover, named the Polar Rover for Observation, Mapping, and In-Situ Exploration, is designed to study the lunar surface and subsurface, particularly areas suspected of harboring water ice.
The Jet Propulsion Laboratory will construct the rover using spare components from the Curiosity and Perseverance Mars rovers, a method intended to reduce development costs. Blue Origin plans to use its Mark 1 lunar lander for the delivery, with NASA targeting a late-2028 launch for an 18-month mission.
Additionally, six transportation task orders worth approximately $1.3 billion combined were awarded to Arrow Science and Technology, Blue Origin, and Impulse Space. These missions will test technologies for Earth-Moon cargo transport, including navigation systems and robotic drones for scouting landing sites.
NASA has also selected SpaceX for a demonstration mission in 2028 to deploy communications satellites into the region between Earth and the Moon using its Starship rocket. This demonstration aims to aid NASA in developing communication networks for astronauts, mission controllers, and future lunar infrastructure.
Awards were also made to Honeybee Robotics, a Blue Origin company, Redwire, and Yank Technologies for components of a planned lunar power and communications tower. This system is intended to combine solar power with wireless power transfer to support lunar surface operations.
These projects collectively aim to establish a sustained American presence on the Moon's South Pole, with commercial partners delivering essential equipment and infrastructure before astronaut arrivals. NASA views these lunar operations as a potential foundation for future crewed missions to Mars.