NASA's latest plans for a series of privately funded lunar missions were announced on Tuesday (May 26), all leading to the plan of establishing a sustainable presence on the moon.

Administrator Jared Isaacman said the Blue Origin Mark One Endurance lander, will deliver multiple payloads to the Shackleton Connecting Ridge at the lunar south pole.

According to NASA, phase one will begin with a rapid series of robotic missions to "scout the region, test technologies, and prepare for surface operations."

Carlos Garcia-Galan, Program Executive for Moon base, said Astrolab and Lunar Outpost were awarded contracts for the lunar terrain vehicles or LTVs.

Phase 2 is expected by 2029, when NASA will begin to build semi-permanent infrastructure and Phase 3 will aim to achieve a sustained presence, "with routine crew rotations and continuous surface activity."

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NASA outlines plans for moon base, awards companies to develop lunar vehicles

VIDEO SHOWS: SOUNDBITES FROM NASA ADMINISTRATOR, JARED ISAACMAN, PROGRAM EXECUTIVE FOR MOON BASE, CARLOS GARCIA-GALAN, AND ACTING ASSOCIATE ADMINISTRATOR FOR NASA'S EXPLORATION SYSTEMS DEVELOPMENT MISSION DIRECTORATE, LORI GLAZE

SHOWS: WASHINGTON, D.C., UNITED STATES (MAY 26, 2026) (NASA - For editorial use only)

1. VARIOUS OF NASA ADMINISTRATOR, JARED ISAACMAN, DURING PRESS CONFERENCE (NOT A SOUNDBITE)

2. (SOUNDBITE) (English) NASA ADMINISTRATOR, JARED ISAACMAN, SAYING:

"Moon Base One will be the first privately funded lunar lander mission in history. The Blue Origin Mark One endurance lander will deliver multiple payloads to the Shackleton Connecting Ridge, a strategic area of the lunar south pole. In addition to flying two NASA science payloads, scouts, a lunar retro reflector array, the mission objective is to demonstrate critical capabilities that reduce risk for the human landing system missions. On that note, every mission in support of the lunar base, helps us learn and de-risk crewed missions, but this one is especially important because of the role Blue Origin plays in the Artemis program."

3. PRESS CONFERENCE IN PROGRESS

4. (SOUNDBITE) (English) NASA ADMINISTRATOR, JARED ISAACMAN, SAYING: (SOUNDBITE CONTINUES OVER SHOT OF ASTROBOTIC GRIFFIN LANDER)

"Moon Base Two will be the largest commercial payload delivery to the lunar surface ever, though, in this Moon Base endeavor, we certainly hope to be breaking records on nearly every mission. The Astrobotic Griffin lander will carry more than 500 kg of cargo, including Astrolabs flip rover, to the lunar surface. This mission will help mature the capabilities necessary to support future Lunar Terrain Vehicles, autonomous operation logistics, and especially the LTV astronaut mobility."

5. PRESS CONFERENCE IN PROGRESS

6. (SOUNDBITE) (English) NASA ADMINISTRATOR, JARED ISAACMAN, SAYING: (SOUNDBITE CONTINUES OVER SHOT OF LUNAR VERTEX)

"Moon Base Three will expand our scientific understanding of the lunar surface. This mission will deliver the first payload selected through NASA's Prism initiative, a program that brings together universities, researchers and industry through open competition to solve scientific questions. The anchor scientific mission is Lunar Vertex, which will study lunar swirls, one of the moon's most intriguing mysteries. Now, these unusual formations appear brighter than their surroundings, as portions of the lunar surface are somehow shielded from the effects of the solar wind. Understanding why they exist could improve our understanding of how the lunar environment evolves, how surface materials change over time, and how a future infrastructure may perform in these extreme conditions."

7. ACTING ASSOCIATE ADMINISTRATOR FOR NASA'S EXPLORATION SYSTEMS DEVELOPMENT MISSION DIRECTORATE, LORI GLAZE, SPEAKING (NOT A SOUNDBITE)

8. (SOUNDBITE) (English) ACTING ASSOCIATE ADMINISTRATOR FOR NASA'S EXPLORATION SYSTEMS DEVELOPMENT MISSION DIRECTORATE, LORI GLAZE, SAYING:

"Moon Base, will be home Base, for our Artemis crews and will encompass long duration stays, expanded robotic and human capabilities, and an enduring presence on the lunar surface. Everything we tested and learned on Artemis II, the systems, the teamwork, the operational tempo—feeds directly into our ability to build a sustainable foothold on the moon. With Moon Base, our Artemis astronauts will stay longer, explore farther, and conduct the kinds of science that advances exploration itself. Understanding how humans operate off world, how we build infrastructure, and how we prepare for Mars."

9. (SOUNDBITE) (English) PROGRAM EXECUTIVE FOR MOON BASE, CARLOS GARCIA-GALAN, SAYING (SOUNDBITE BEGINS OVER GRAPHIC SHOWING MOON BASE EXPECTED MILESTONES)

"We envision the moon base to be hundreds of square miles, with different assets, all building up to the objective of a permanent lunar presence on the moon. To get there, we're going to break it up into phases, and phase one has already started. From now through 29 we're going to work to make sure that getting to the lunar surface is a high reliability endeavor. Many assets we can deliver that will sit on our test and experiments. The science of survival as the administrator said. We're going to experiment on the things that we know are ahead of us, that we're going to need to build a permanent infrastructure, which is happening on phase two, and then permanent habitation and on phase three."

10. GARCIA-GALAN SPEAKING (NOT A SOUNDBITE)

11. (SOUNDBITE) (English) PROGRAM EXECUTIVE FOR MOON BASE, CARLOS GARCIA-GALAN, SAYING (SOUNDBITE CONTINUES OVER ANIMATION OF LUNAR TERRAIN VEHICLE)

"So I'm going to get ready to announce the first LTV (lunar terrain vehicle) Award winner. And that is Astrolab. Congratulations."

12. GARCIA-GALAN SPEAKING (NOT A SOUNDBITE)

13. (SOUNDBITE) (English) PROGRAM EXECUTIVE FOR MOON BASE, CARLOS GARCIA-GALAN, SAYING (SOUNDBITE CONTINUES OVER ANIMATION OF LUNAR TERRAIN VEHICLE)

"The second LTV provider, which I'm going to announce now is Lunar Outpost. "

14. VARIOUS OF MODELS OF LANDERS AND VEHICLES ON A TABLE DURING PRESS CONFERENCE