NASA Unveils 3 Moon Base Missions to Lunar South Pole as 2026 Landings Prepare Artemis Return
Updated
Updated · Good News Network · Jun 4
NASA Unveils 3 Moon Base Missions to Lunar South Pole as 2026 Landings Prepare Artemis Return
3 articles · Updated · Good News Network · Jun 4
Summary
Three Moon Base missions will begin NASA’s lunar south pole campaign, with the first two targeted for 2026 to gather data for the first human return to the Moon since 1969.
Moon Base I will use Blue Origin’s Mark 1 Endurance lander to deploy two instruments measuring thruster effects on lunar regolith and improving landing precision with a laser retroreflector.
Moon Base II will send 1,100 pounds of equipment on Astrobotic’s Griffin lander, including Astrolab’s FLIP rover to test how lunar terrain affects driving, braking and vehicle motion in microgravity.
Moon Base III will carry payloads from the European Space Agency and the Korea Astronomy and Space Science Institute, extending the program’s international role as NASA plans more than a dozen missions this year.
A related MoonFall mission is targeting 2028, with four hopping drones built for site surveys ahead of Artemis astronaut landings later this decade.