- Four commercial landers are being prepared for delivery by 2028
- Blue Origin, Firefly Aerospace, Intuitive Machines and Voyager Lunar Systems are developing the landers
- The first phase of the Moon Base architecture is ongoing, covering more than 20 robotic landings
NASA has published a progress report on the commercial landers and technology demonstrations supporting the development of Moon Base, the outpost it plans to establish near the lunar South Pole. The agency released the update Tuesday alongside a video walkthrough of hardware being built by four companies.
Blue Origin, Firefly Aerospace, Intuitive Machines and Voyager Lunar Systems are expected to deliver their respective landers by 2028. NASA said robotic missions will place scientific instruments, test technologies and begin assembling infrastructure before astronauts arrive.
Phase I of the architecture plan is ongoing and will conclude by 2029. It requires more than 20 robotic landings, each intended to validate components for subsequent missions. Deliveries under the Commercial Lunar Payload Services initiative underpin the schedule.
Where Do the Four Landers Stand?
Blue Origin’s Blue Moon MK1, which will fly a mission named Endurance, has cleared an environmental test campaign that included thermal-vacuum testing at Johnson Space Center. Assembly of the structure, propulsion elements and avionics is complete, and the lander has cleared communications checkouts with the Tracking and Data Relay Satellite System and the Deep Space Network. Loading cryogenic propellants is among the last steps before launch integration.
Firefly’s Blue Ghost Mission 2 stacks the lander atop the company’s Elytra orbital spacecraft, producing a 22-foot system. The mission is planned to be the first American landing on the Moon’s far side, carrying three payloads from the agency.
Intuitive Machines is assembling Trinity, its third Nova-C lander, for the IM-3 mission. Altus-1, the company’s first lunar data-relay satellite, will fly alongside it. Teams recently completed long-range thermal vacuum testing at the X-Ray Cryogenic Facility at Marshall Space Flight Center, ensuring that sensors will remain operational at both extremes of the temperature range expected during lunar descent. Engine integration and hot fire tests will follow. Five NASA payloads will ride to the surface aboard the lander, joined by six commercial and one civil payload. Altus-1 will carry three more into lunar orbit.
Voyager has Griffin-1 in the Environmental Test Laboratory at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory. The lander completed mass properties testing and faces several more weeks of environmental work before returning to Voyager’s Pittsburgh facility for final assembly. NASA said Griffin-1 will carry the largest commercial payload yet delivered to the lunar surface, with five NASA payloads mounted on Astrolab’s FLEX Lunar Innovation Platform rover.
What Is Northrop Grumman Contributing?
Northrop Grumman is building three technology demonstration payloads for the lunar surface, designated Lunar Infrastructure Demo-1, LID-2 and LID-3. The hardware derives from power and avionics developed for the Gateway program’s Habitation and Logistics Outpost, or HALO, module.
NASA is repurposing HALO after shifting from an orbital lunar strategy toward surface operations. The demonstrations will test systems built to survive multi-day shadow periods, as well as shared surface power infrastructure and avionics.
“Our ready‑to‑fly, reliable HALO technologies allow NASA to move faster, putting in place robust infrastructure that can endure the lunar night and establish a strong blueprint for a future Moon Base,” said David Schiller, vice president of civil space and sciences at Northrop Grumman.
