NASA Awards Contracts for Lunar Base Development Ahead of Artemis Missions

Kathmandu. NASA has awarded contracts worth hundreds of millions of dollars to four American companies, releasing the first phase of plans for landers, rovers, and drones needed to build a base on the Moon before the historic Artemis-2 lunar flight.

According to the plan released by the American space agency on Tuesday, the initial phase of lunar base development will involve sending equipment such as landers, rovers, and drones to the lunar surface, which will lay the groundwork for future human habitation and research.

Jeff Bezos's company Blue Origin will provide a lander near the Moon's south pole, which will be responsible for delivering rovers to the lunar surface. These lunar vehicles will be built by Astrolab and Lunar Outpost companies. Similarly, Firefly Aerospace, which successfully landed last year, has been tasked with sending the first drone to the Moon.

According to NASA, all these devices must reach the Moon before the first human landing proposed for early 2028, which will provide a basis for the human mission of the Artemis program.

In this regard, in the Artemis-2 mission completed last April, four astronauts made a historic journey orbiting the Moon. This is considered the deepest space journey since the Apollo era. The upcoming Artemis-3 mission plans for astronauts to practice in lunar orbit, where docking practice will be done with landers being developed by Blue Origin and Elon Musk's SpaceX.

NASA aims to conduct the Artemis-3 mission around mid-2027 and is moving forward with plans to land humans on the Moon by 2028. After that, the second phase of the lunar base will begin between 2029 and 2030, which will involve building initial permanent infrastructure, including a power grid. The third phase, reaching the 2030s, aims to create housing structures for long-term habitation.

Carlos Garcia-Galan, executive of NASA's lunar base program, said the future structure will spread over hundreds of square miles and its boundaries will be marked by drones. These drones will be named 'Moonflalls', which will define the perimeter of the lunar base.

NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman said this system will be coordinated with other space missions and operated with respect for international spacecraft and equipment. He also mentioned that mutual cooperation is expected in this matter.

According to him, the lunar base will be important not only for research but also for building the foundation for future Mars missions, expanding scientific research, and developing the lunar economy.