Artemis Lunar Surface Base by NASA: status and timeline

Artemis Lunar Surface Base

Establish a continuously staffed lunar base by 2032 to support extended human exploration and scientific discovery on the Moon.

ProtoStage 2 of 5

Contract awards May 2026; Artemis IV crewed landing 2028; sustained presence by 2032+.

Updated 26 May 2026Checked 11 Oct0 updates this week

Milestones

Next · Artemis IV crewed lunar landing

Gateway orbital station cancelled; lunar surface base focus announcedMar 2026Complete.
May 2026 CLPS awards for Astrolab, Lunar Outpost, Blue Origin, Firefly26 May 2026Complete.
Artemis IV crewed lunar landingTarget 2028Not yet reached.
Phase 2: habitat and power systems deploymentTarget 2028Not yet reached.
Phase 3: sustained crewed presence achievedTarget 2032Not yet reached.

Most important updates

Upcoming

Q4 2026First CLPS cargo mission lands (next)
Q4 2027Artemis III orbital test: rendezvous with landing system pathfinder
2028Artemis IV crewed lunar landing
2028Phase 2: habitat and power systems deployment
2032Phase 3: sustained crewed presence achieved

Current obstacles

Lunar lander precisionNo air for parachutes; landers must use engines to cancel all sideways speed. Long shadows, rough terrain and soft regolith make safe landings difficult.
Power and thermal managementThe lunar night lasts ~14 Earth days at −170 °C. Sustained presence requires nuclear power or massive batteries to survive the cold.
In-space refuellingLarge lunar landers cannot launch in one piece; they must be refuelled in orbit. In-space propellant transfer at operational scale has not been done.

Physics limits

Escape velocity and fuelReturning from the Moon requires escape velocity (2.4 km/s) with no margin. Each extra kg of crew or equipment costs many kg of fuel.
Thermal extremesSurface temperatures swing from 120 °C in sunlight to −170 °C in shade. Instruments, seals and humans all degrade in this range.

How it works

3 parts

Phase 1

Robotic cargo deliveries

Commercial partners land science instruments, equipment and supplies at the lunar south pole via NASA's CLPS (Commercial Lunar Payload Services) program.

Phase 2

Crewed landings and habitat

Artemis IV lands crew and deploys power systems, habitats and life-support equipment at the permanent base site.

Phase 3

Sustained presence

Multiple crew rotations and resupply missions establish a continuously staffed base with local power, water extraction, and scientific equipment.

Spec sheet

Spec	Artemis Lunar Surface Base
Program budget	~$20B over 7 years^R (reported)
Astrolab CLPS cargo contract	$219M^R (reported)
Lunar Outpost contract	$220M^R (reported)
Blue Origin LTV contract	$188M^R (reported)
Firefly MoonFall lunar drone contract	$75M^R (reported)

^R reported by the company

Update log

2 updates

Tue 26 May

Major: NASA awards Moon Base contracts: $219M Astrolab, $220M Lunar Outpost, $188M Blue Origin, $75M FireflyPressCommercial

Mar 2026

Major: NASA cancels Gateway orbital station, commits $20B to permanent Moon basePressOther

About NASA

The team behind Artemis Lunar Surface Base

NASA

Space exploration, aeronautics, government research

U.S. federal agency for civilian space exploration and aerospace research. NASA builds spacecraft (Orion for crewed Moon missions), rockets (SLS), and aircraft (X-59 quiet supersonic demonstrator) for scientific discovery.

SLS and Orion are NASA's crewed lunar vehicles; Artemis II flew four astronauts around the Moon in April 2026.
X-59 QueSST flew supersonic in 2026, proving shaped airframes produce quiet thumps instead of sonic booms.
NASA cancelled the Lunar Gateway orbital station to focus on a permanent lunar surface base.

nasa.gov (opens nasa.gov)Company profile →

Founded: 195868 yrs
Headquarters: United States
Status: Government
Valuation: government
Works in: AviationSupersonic & hypersonicSpaceflight
Coverage: 8 programs · 12 updateslatest 1d 13h agochecked 11 Oct
Partners: Lockheed Martin (opens lockheedmartin.com)
Suppliers: Northrop Grumman (opens northropgrumman.com)Boeing
People: Bill Nelson (opens en.wikipedia.org)NASA Administrator

Spec

Artemis Lunar Surface Base

Program budget

~$20B over 7 years^R (reported)

Astrolab CLPS cargo contract

$219M^R (reported)

Lunar Outpost contract

$220M^R (reported)

Blue Origin LTV contract

$188M^R (reported)

Firefly MoonFall lunar drone contract

$75M^R (reported)