NASA will also send three unmanned landers from private corporations to the moon to coincide with astronauts' lunar landing. The landers are expected to touch down on the moon four times by the end of 2028 to lay the groundwork for building a crewed base. Earlier, NASA said it would send astronauts to the lunar south pole in 2028 and build a crewed base for them to stay in by 2032.
On the 30th (local time), NASA said it would provide $600 million to three U.S. space corporations as part of the Commercial Lunar Payload Services (CLPS) to land unmanned landers on the lunar surface four times by the end of 2028. Astrobotic won a total of $297.9 million for two landing missions, while Firefly Aerospace and Intuitive Machines will receive $144.2 million and $148.3 million, respectively, for one landing mission each.
◇Advance team for building a lunar base
The United States has resumed crewed lunar exploration for the first time in half a century since Apollo 17 in 1972. Although astronauts set foot on the moon starting with Apollo 11 in 1969, the Artemis program carries a different meaning. Unlike the Apollo missions, in which astronauts briefly stayed and returned, the plan is to build a space base for long-term habitation. On Mar. 3, NASA Director General Jared Isaacman said the agency would invest $20 billion (about 30 trillion won) to build a permanent crewed base at the lunar south pole by 2032.
The corporations will transport three exploration instruments developed by NASA to the moon. All are designed to gather information needed to establish a permanent crewed lunar base. The "stereo cameras for lunar plume-surface studies (SCALPSS)" will use stereophotogrammetry to generate 3D imagery of how a lander's engine exhaust plume affects lunar dust as it descends to the surface.
Lunar dust is an obstacle that must be overcome in crewed exploration. The moon's gravity is only one-sixth that of Earth, and it has no atmosphere. When a spacecraft lands and its engine blasts, dust covering the surface spreads in all directions at tremendous speed. On Earth, soil dust becomes rounded by atmospheric friction, but on the moon, without an atmosphere, its edges remain sharp. In that state, collisions with spacecraft and instruments can cause malfunctions. During the Apollo lunar exploration half a century ago, lunar dust also damaged spacesuits and equipment.
The laser retroreflector array (LRA) will reflect laser beams sent by lunar orbiters or landers to help determine position. The linear energy transfer spectrometer (LETS) can analyze the moon's radiation environment to support safe missions. NASA exploration deputy associate administrator Joel Kearns said, "The missions of the lunar landers are similar to installing weather stations in multiple areas on Earth," adding, "By placing the same science instruments on multiple landers, we can identify potential hazards that may occur during landing and build environmental data and a positioning beacon network across the moon."
◇Rover once bound for Mars will go to the moon
Many interpret the quickening pace of U.S. lunar exploration as driven by competition with China. Half a century ago, the United States and the Soviet Union competed to see who would send astronauts to the moon first; now the rivalry is between the United States and China. Although China was late to lunar exploration, it outpaced the United States in 2019 by sending the first probe in human history to the far side of the moon. China has also decided with Russia to build a space base, aiming for completion in 2035.
To accelerate lunar exploration, NASA also decided to deploy a new rover developed for Mars exploration. It is the PROMISE rover. PROMISE is the English acronym for "Polar Rover for Observation, Mapping, and In-Situ Exploration," a hybrid version combining the capabilities of the Curiosity and Perseverance rovers sent to Mars. Director General Jared Isaacman said, "We are very seriously considering sending PROMISE to the moon."
Although several countries have used rovers in lunar exploration recently, this will be the first time the United States sends a rover to the moon. China sent the Chang'e 3 lander and the Yutu-1 rover in 2013, and in 2019 it landed Chang'e 4 and Yutu-2 on the far side. India sent the Pragyan rover aboard the unmanned lunar probe Chandrayaan-3 to the lunar south pole in 2023.
Japan also sent the small rovers LEV-1 and LEV-2 aboard the SLIM lunar lander in 2024. Of these, LEV-2, nicknamed SORA-Q, is the world's smallest rover, about 8 cm in diameter and weighing 250 g. It was co-developed by the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA), toy company Takara Tomy, Sony, and Doshisha University. After landing on the lunar surface as a sphere, its body splits to the sides like a Transformer in the movies and wheels deploy. JAXA reported SORA-Q's lunar exploration results on Jun. 10 in the international journal "Science Robotics."
References
NASA (2026), https://www.nasa.gov/news-release/nasa-awards-more-moon-base-science-previews-new-opportunities/
Science Robotics (2026), DOI: https://doi.org/10.1126/scirobotics.aec8039