NASA Awards Nearly $600 Million for Four Robotic Moon Missions Through 2028

NASA has committed nearly $600 million to four new robotic missions to the Moon's surface, handing the work to three American companies as it builds toward a permanent Moon Base. All four landings are scheduled by late 2028.

The awards fall under the Commercial Lunar Payload Services initiative, known as CLPS. Astrobotic won two of the missions, together worth $297.9 million. Firefly Aerospace received $144.2 million for one mission, and Intuitive Machines took a $148.3 million award for another. NASA plans to fly upgraded versions of each company's existing lander, with the aim of flying more often and improving reliability. Agency officials said lessons from earlier flights will shape the new vehicles.

Lori Glaze, associate administrator for NASA's Human Spaceflight Mission Directorate, said the awards show the agency's commitment to accelerating its effort to build a long-term presence on the lunar surface. Ryan Stephan, acting director of cargo landers for the Moon Base program, said a faster mission cadence will help NASA refine its operations. He described the campaign as a proving ground for future lunar infrastructure, with engineers learning from each landing and applying it to the next. With these awards, NASA has 17 commercial lunar surface deliveries lined up through multiple providers.

Each of the four missions will carry the same three NASA instruments, all meant to support future human exploration. The Stereo Camera for Lunar Plume Surface Studies will take high-resolution 3D images of how rocket exhaust disturbs lunar dust during landing. Engineers will use that data to improve landing models as larger spacecraft begin operating near one another on the Moon.

The Laser Retroreflector Array is a small, maintenance-free device that reflects laser signals from orbiting spacecraft. It will act as a permanent navigation marker, helping future missions fix their position more accurately. The third instrument, the Linear Energy Transfer Spectrometer, will measure radiation levels at different landing sites. NASA expects those readings to improve astronaut safety and inform the design of long-duration lunar missions.

Joel Kearns, deputy associate administrator for exploration in NASA's Science Mission Directorate, said flying identical instruments on several landers will give a broader picture of conditions across the Moon. He compared it to placing weather stations in different regions of Earth, building up a growing network of environmental data.

NASA also described further opportunities for industry. Engineers are evaluating whether the proposed PROMISE rover could prospect for resources and study the surface near the Moon's south pole. It is a hybrid design based on the Perseverance and Curiosity Mars rovers. The agency also plans to seek proposals for additional commercial landers, technology demonstrations, a south polar imaging mission, and a communications relay network linking lunar assets with Earth.

Together, those efforts are meant to build the hardware and operational experience for a sustained American presence on the Moon before astronauts head on to Mars. The next things to watch are the solicitations NASA has said are coming, and how the upgraded landers perform when they fly.