NASA’s permanent Moon base plans start with three missions this year

NASA announced upcoming lunar south pole missions meant to prepare for the crewed Artemis landing planned for 2028. The first, Moon Base I, is slated no earlier than fall 2026 using Blue Origin’s Blue Moon Mark 1 Endurance lander to deliver science payloads that study lander-surface interactions and support future operations.

The plan shows NASA moving from one-off lunar demonstrations toward a more sustained Moon infrastructure campaign built around commercial landers. If successful, these missions could reduce risk for Artemis and accelerate a broader market for lunar delivery, navigation, and surface operations.

On Tuesday, NASA announced several upcoming lunar missions to the Moon's South Pole region. These missions will pave the way for the crewed Artemis landing slated for 2028, starting with three Moon Base missions NASA says are "the first of more than a dozen missions that will be announced this year."

Moon Base I, launching "no earlier than fall 2026," will use Blue Origin's Blue Moon Mark 1 Endurance lander to bring NASA payloads to the Moon, including the Stereo Camera for Lunar Plume-Surface Studies instrument and the Laser Retroreflective Array. NASA will use these "to study how thrusters interact with the Moon's surface" and help "orbi … Read the full story at The Verge.