Over the next decade, NASA plans to spend tens of billions of dollars on what one official called “humanity’s first deep-space outpost.”
NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman kicked off the space agency’s “Ignition” event Tuesday with the revelation that it will pause work on the Lunar Gateway space station, a sizable portion of which has already been built by contractors.
Instead of an orbital outpost, Isaacman said, NASA will use Gateway’s components to build a true lunar base on the moon’s surface. He said it plans to invest $20 billion in the project over seven years and begin semiannual missions with astronauts in 2028—doubling the annual cadence NASA announced in January.
Later in the event, Carlos Garcia-Galan, the former Gateway program deputy manager who now heads the space agency’s moon base effort, presented a three-phase plan that would require $30 billion in investment over the next decade.
“It should not really surprise anyone that we are pausing Gateway in its current form and focusing on infrastructure that supports sustained operations on the lunar surface,” Isaacman said. “Despite some of the very real hardware and schedule challenges, we can repurpose equipment and international partner commitments to support surface and other program objectives.”
Gateway was planned to be the first space station operating beyond low-Earth orbit and serve as a waypoint for future human missions to Mars. Astronauts would transfer to the space station from a crew capsule and board a human landing system (HLS) provided by SpaceX or Blue Origin to descend to the lunar surface.
Garcia-Galan, though, said the HLS providers don’t need Gateway to complete their mission. He added that due to technical challenges, it would not be operational until 2030. Instead, the Gateway team will “pivot” to support the moon base.
“Every asset, every kilogram, all the lunar exploration resources that we have are going to be focused on one thing, and that is to build the moon base,” Garcia-Galan said.
The plan Garcia-Galan presented calls for $10 billion in investment for each phase.
During Phase 1, which would extend through 2028, NASA will look to achieve reliable, high-rate access to the lunar surface. It will leverage its Commercial Lunar Payload Services (CLPS) and Lunar Terrain Vehicle (LTV) programs to deliver an array of satellites, lunar drones, and other technologies. The initial phase includes the first crewed moon landing under NASA’s Artemis program, which will use either SpaceX or Blue Origin’s HLS to investigate potential moon base sites in early 2028.
In Phase 2 from 2029 to 2032, NASA will start laying real groundwork for the base, installing power, surface communication, mobility, and other systems that would allow humans to live and work on the moon for weeks—or potentially months. Following Artemis V in late 2028, it aims to launch crewed landings twice per year.
By 2032, the space agency hopes to achieve the same continued human presence on the moon that it has maintained for 25 years on the International Space Station.
The final phase, lasting through 2036, would see a transition to a permanent base and the start of long-duration, long-distance human missions. Using new technologies such as nuclear propulsion, NASA aims to explore permanently shadowed craters and other regions of the moon where humans have never set foot. It will also look to begin extracting oxygen, water, and other resources from the moon’s surface—a capability that could enable future missions to Mars.
Garcia-Galan said the space agency will use a constellation of satellites and cameras to provide live coverage of launches, landings, and surface operations as the base evolves.
On Tuesday, NASA issued several draft and formal solicitations seeking input on new lunar transport and surface capabilities. Both the CLPS and LTV programs have been modified to support the moon base project, which contains capabilities for which they were not designed.
Isaacman said the NASA Force—a unique workforce program announced earlier this month—will play a major role in the moon base. In partnership with the White House Office of Personnel Management (OPM), NASA will recruit private sector employees for temporary terms at the space agency, likewise sending its own personnel to gain experience working in the industry.
Garcia-Galan said the space agency will use its workforce “in a way that perhaps we haven’t in the past, especially recently.”
“We will embed NASA subject matter experts across the supply chain attached to every vendor, subcontractor, and every part on the critical path from Artemis acceleration to building the moon base,” Isaacman said.
The Plan
As it approaches the monumental undertaking of building a permanent moon base, NASA will break up the project into many smaller tasks, mirroring the recent overhaul it made to its Artemis architecture.
Phase 1
“Phase 1, which starts [Tuesday], is all about getting to the moon reliably, learning how to get there in high cadence, deploying assets in different areas of the moon where we think we may want to build this moon base,” Garcia-Galan said.
According to Garcia-Galan, NASA through 2028 aims to complete 25 launches and 21 landings, delivering about 4,000 kilograms to the lunar surface. That includes two missions this year to the moon’s south pole, as well as delivery of one or both of SpaceX and Blue Origin’s HLS modules.
Also planned is the delivery of two LTVs. The original LTV program called for a single rover that could survive for 10 years. But due to cost and schedule concerns, NASA will initially deploy less capable vehicles, moving to more advanced models in later phases.
The two golf cart-sized LTVs for Phase 1—one crewed, one uncrewed—have a design life of one year and are designed for exploration and prospecting, traveling 10 kilometers per hour (kph), climbing 10-degree slopes, and surviving up to 120 hours in shadowed regions.
Another NASA rover, VIPER, is expected to arrive on Blue Origin’s HLS in 2027 to map water at the lunar south pole.
Joining the rovers will be lunar drones that Garcia-Galan said were inspired by NASA’s Ingenuity Mars helicopter. These “MoonFall” aircraft will survey sites and terrain in hard-to-reach areas, making short propulsive hops that cover up to 50 km. They will be capable of landing themselves and making multiple hops to scout the location of a future base.
NASA said the drones will host cameras and demonstrate the ability to survive the frigid lunar night, which lasts about two Earth weeks. A first batch of four could launch in 2028, followed by more in later phases.
Another key piece of Phase 1 is the demonstration of radioisotope heating units (RHUs)—nuclear-powered devices that could help rovers, drones, and other assets survive extreme cold and long stretches of darkness.
In addition, two orbital communication and observation satellite constellations will lay the groundwork for astronauts to work collaboratively on the moon in the future.
Phase 2
After 2028, Garcia-Galan said, “we’re going to think about establishing the infrastructure” for the moon base, including “power, surface communication, surface preparation, and mobility.”
Phase 2 will comprise 27 launches and 24 landings to deliver about 60,000 kilograms to the moon—15 times the payload of Phase 1. To do that, NASA wants CLPS landers that are capable of carrying five metric tons on semi-annual missions.
In addition to LTVs and MoonFall drones, Phase 2 could introduce the pressurized rover NASA is building in partnership with Japan’s Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA). The vehicle is intended as a mobile habitat for two human crew to conduct surface expeditions. It will travel at about 3.5 kph, climb slopes up to 15 degrees, carry 3,000 kilograms (kg) of cargo, and survive 150 hours in the shadows. Unlike the Phase 1 LTVs, it would have a 10-year lifespan.
NASA will also install and test solar masts that could power the moon base and wirelessly charge rovers. It plans to build a lunar surface communications network with a line-of-sight range of 10 kilometers, allowing astronauts to communicate across craters and mountains using permanent “cell towers.”
By this phase, NASA expects lunar assets to routinely use RHUs and more powerful radioisotope thermoelectric generators (RTGs) to survive the night. White House officials in 2025 announced plans for a lunar nuclear reactor by 2030.
Finally, Phase 2 will clear the runway for the moon base by testing rovers that can clear rocks, level and compact surfaces, and perform other site preparation tasks. These will be second-generation LTVs with larger payloads, as well as industry and international rovers. Site preparation will begin in earnest during the final phase.
Phase 3
From 2033 to 2036, NASA plans to fly about 150,000 kg to the moon in support of “long duration and long distance human exploration,” Garcia-Galan said. By then, it aims to increase CLPS lander capacity to eight metric tons.
Garcia-Galan said the “star of the show” in Phase 3 will be the delivery of the first lunar habitats with environmental control and life support systems (ECLSS), airlocks, and other features for human occupancy. They could span multiple locations. The habitats would receive power from the nuclear and solar systems installed previously, potentially allowing humans themselves to venture into craters.
Accompanying the habitats will be additional LTVs designed to last for 10 years. They will use RHUs and RTGs to explore shadowed regions with and without crew, with the ability to transfer cargo and dig into the lunar surface.
To support increased human operations, NASA plans to build an end-to-end lunar supply chain that could support four-crew, 28-day missions. It hopes to be capable of returning 500 kg of science samples and hardware to Earth at a time.
Phase 3 is also expected to set the stage for future crewed missions to Mars and beyond. The space agency intends to create an “industrial neighborhood,” where it could experiment with 3D printing using lunar regolith, or extract oxygen, hydrogen, water, and rare Earth elements from the surface.
Being able to produce those resources on-site—rather than send a cargo spacecraft—would reduce the cost and mass of launches and make longer missions feasible.
Next Steps
NASA is making a few major changes to support the new moon base project.
For one, Garcia-Galan said it is “drastically expanding” CLPS. The space agency is targeting increased lander payload capacity as well as improved mission quantity, cadence, and reliability to deliver thousands of pounds of cargo to the moon.
NASA on Tuesday released two requests for task order proposals (RFTPs) for the 14 CLPS Phase 1 providers, asking them to deliver large payloads up to 500 kg as well as smaller science payloads under 100 kg. CLPS launch services task orders, it said, will be issued in 2027. A follow-on solicitation will look to expand the CLPS provider base.
There’s just one problem—only one of four CLPS missions, Firefly Aerospace’s Collier Trophy-winning Blue Ghost Mission 1, has successfully landed and operated on the moon.
Isaacman on Tuesday made clear that commercial contractors aiding the effort will have little room for error.
“We are not going to sit idly by when schedules slip or budgets are exceeded,” he said. “Expect uncomfortable action, if that is what it takes, because the public has invested over $100 billion and has been very patient with respect to America’s return to the moon. Expectations are rightfully very high.”
As noted earlier, NASA also modified its LTV program from a single rover delivery to a phased program that will see capabilities gradually evolve. The new framework will get rovers to the moon quicker and in greater numbers, allow multiple vendors to participate, and ensure future vehicles are built using real-world learnings, it said.
NASA on Tuesday posted a draft RFTP for simplified LTV proposals, with plans to increase the vendor pool in 2027. After that, it expects to hold task order competitions every 18 to 24 months.
The earliest steps in the moon base project are rapidly approaching.
Lori Glaze, deputy associate administrator of NASA’s Exploration Systems Development Mission Directorate, on Tuesday reiterated the April 1 target for Artemis II—a crewed, 10-day mission around the moon and back.
Artemis II is intended to test the systems that will fly on Artemis III in early 2027. The goal of that mission is for NASA’s Orion crew capsule to dock with one or both HLS systems. Objectives include in-space testing of the docked vehicles, checkouts of life support, communications, and propulsions systems, and, potentially, the introduction of next-generation spacesuits.
Artemis III will also be key in testing the mission profile that NASA believes could enable semi-annual crewed missions by 2028. It comprises multiple tanker flights to an orbital depot that the spacecraft will use to fuel up before heading to the moon. The space agency hopes to collect data on a new Orion heat shield that will be installed for the mission.
Glaze predicted that SpaceX’s Version 3 (V3) Starship—the company’s largest and most powerful rocket yet—will make its debut in April. Blue Origin’s Blue Moon Mark 1 lander, she said, could follow a few months later on its first CLPS mission.
Glaze said the Artemis IV crewed landing in 2028, NASA’s first since 1972, will “fly with whichever provider is ready first for 2027.”
Both SpaceX and Blue Origin are developing simplified HLS profiles with less demanding mission profiles and surface requirements. Their success will be pivotal in what is clearly a top-order priority for NASA.
