---
title: "NASA funds four new robotic missions to lay groundwork for a Moon base"
description: "NASA has awarded nearly $600 million to three commercial companies for four robotic missions to the Moon, part of a push to build infrastructure and gather data on the lunar surface before astronauts return under the Artemis program."
category: "Science"
category_url: https://newsparlor.com/category/science
author: "Chloe Bennett"
published: 2026-07-14T10:27:00.000Z
updated: 2026-07-14T10:27:00.000Z
canonical: https://newsparlor.com/article/nasa-four-new-moon-base-missions
tags: ["nasa", "moon", "space-exploration", "artemis", "commercial-spaceflight"]
---
# NASA funds four new robotic missions to lay groundwork for a Moon base

NASA has awarded nearly $600 million to three commercial companies for four robotic missions to the Moon, part of a push to build infrastructure and gather data on the lunar surface before astronauts return under the Artemis program.

NASA has selected three companies to fly four new robotic missions to the Moon, awarding close to $600 million as it works to establish the infrastructure needed for a long-term human presence there.

The awards, made under the agency's Commercial Lunar Payload Services program, [expand what NASA describes as its Moon Base effort](https://www.nasa.gov/news-release/nasa-awards-more-moon-base-science-previews-new-opportunities/), a drive to deliver science instruments and technology to the lunar surface ahead of crewed Artemis landings.

## Who is flying, and when

Astrobotic received the largest share, [about $297.9 million for two deliveries](https://www.astrobotic.com/astrobotic-awarded-2-nasa-contracts-for-clps-moon-base-missions/). Firefly Aerospace was awarded [$144.2 million for one mission](https://www.globenewswire.com/news-release/2026/06/30/3320090/0/en/Firefly-Aerospace-Awarded-144-Million-NASA-CLPS-Contract-for-Accelerated-Blue-Ghost-Lunar-Mission.html) using its Blue Ghost lander, and Intuitive Machines received [$148.3 million for one mission](https://houston.innovationmap.com/intuitive-machines-148m-clps-moon-base-2677164545.html) with its Nova-C lander. All four flights are targeted for late 2028.

Rather than each carrying different cargo, the landers will deliver the same core set of instruments to different spots on the Moon, creating a distributed network of measurements across the surface.

## Instruments for future astronauts

One instrument, known as SCALPSS, uses synchronized cameras to capture how a lander's engine exhaust kicks up lunar dust during descent, data that engineers need to design safer landing systems for crewed missions. A second, the Linear Energy Transfer Spectrometer, measures the radiation environment at the surface, information NASA calls essential to protecting astronauts on extended stays. A third, a laser retroreflector array, acts as a fixed navigation marker to help future spacecraft and rovers pinpoint their positions.

Gathering the same readings at multiple sites is central to the plan. Understanding conditions "at different locations on the lunar surface" is critical to mission planning, [NASA said in announcing the awards](https://www.nasa.gov/news-release/nasa-awards-more-moon-base-science-previews-new-opportunities/).

## Building toward Artemis

The four missions are part of a wider pipeline. NASA now has [roughly 17 lunar surface deliveries planned](https://spaceflightnow.com/2026/05/27/nasa-outlines-nearly-1-billion-investment-into-initial-moon-base-missions/) through a range of commercial providers, an approach the agency says builds redundancy into its transportation network and nurtures a growing commercial lunar economy.

The strategy marks a shift away from one-off landings toward a sustained campaign of infrastructure-building. Each payload is meant to inform decisions on landing sites, habitat placement and crew safety for Artemis, NASA's program to return humans to the Moon and eventually maintain a foothold there. By relying on companies flying upgraded versions of landers that have already reached the Moon, the agency aims to move quickly while spreading risk across several providers.