.
News
NASA has selected Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin to deliver lunar rovers and equipment to the Moon’s surface, as part of a broader plan to build a base at the lunar south pole that would support a sustained human presence by the 2030s.
Details
• NASA will pay Blue Origin at least $188 million to transport the first lunar terrain vehicles to the Moon’s surface.
• The agency also awarded a $219 million contract to Astrolab and a $220 million contract to Lunar Outpost to develop the rovers that will be used for mobility on the lunar surface.
• The announcement comes about six weeks after the completion of the Artemis 2 mission, which returned humans to lunar orbit for the first time since 1972, according to The Washington Post.
• NASA is planning a crewed lunar landing in 2028, followed by annual surface missions under the Artemis program.
• By 2029, the agency wants to build initial infrastructure near the Moon’s south pole, including a solar power network.
• By 2032, NASA aims to establish semi-permanent modules that would allow astronauts to conduct experiments and stay for longer periods.
• The lunar south pole gives NASA an important advantage because of long periods of sunlight suitable for solar power, but it remains an extremely harsh environment, with temperatures that can exceed 250°F in sunlight and fall below minus 200°F in darkness.
• NASA also announced a $75 million contract with Firefly Aerospace to build a vehicle that will carry lunar drones in 2028, with the goal of surveying possible landing sites for future Artemis astronauts.
What next?
NASA’s real test will not be choosing the companies only, but building a reliable logistics chain that makes reaching the Moon and operating on its surface repeatable.
Put simply: a permanent lunar base is not a symbolic project. It is a brutal rehearsal before seriously thinking about Mars.
