NASA picks Blue Origin, other space firms for moon missions - CNA

NASA displays newly unveiled lunar base project models from Blue Origin, Lunar Outpost and other companies during a news conference on updated plans for the agency’s Moon Base initiative for a long-term lunar presence, at NASA headquarters in Washington, D.C., U.S., May 26, 2026. REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst NASA Moon Base Program Executive Carlos Garcia-Galan, with NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman and acting Associate Administrator Lori Glaze, announces new contracts for Blue Origin and other companies during a news conference on updated plans for the agency’s Moon Base initiative for a long-term lunar presence, at NASA headquarters in Washington, D.C., U.S., May 26, 2026. REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman, with acting Associate Administrator Lori Glaze and Moon Base Program Executive Carlos Garcia-Galan, holds a news conference on updated plans for the agency’s Moon Base initiative for a long-term lunar presence, at NASA headquarters in Washington, D.C., U.S., May 26, 2026. REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst 27 May 2026 06:41AM (Updated: 27 May 2026 06:52AM) Bookmark Bookmark Share WhatsApp Telegram Facebook Twitter Email LinkedIn Set CNA as your preferred source on Google Add CNA as a trusted source to help Google better understand and surface our content in search results. Read a summary of this article on FAST. Get bite-sized news via a newcards interface. Give it a try. Click here to return to FAST Tap here to return to FAST FAST May 26 : NASA awarded contracts to space firms including Jeff Bezos' Blue Origin and Astrolab to send robotic landers, rovers and drones to support the upcoming lunar exploration missions.

The U.S. space agency said on Tuesday it had awarded Astrolab $219 million and Lunar Outpost $220 million to build and deliver lunar terrain vehicles.

Blue Origin was awarded a $188 million contract to deliver the rovers to the moon's surface using its uncrewed cargo lunar lander, Mark 1.

The contracts are part of NASA's broader Artemis program, which aims to expand humanity's footprint in space and support future deep-space exploration.

CNA Games Guess Word Crack the word, one row at a time Buzzword Create words using the given letters Mini Sudoku Tiny puzzle, mighty brain teaser Mini Crossword Small grid, big challenge Word Search Spot as many words as you can Show More Show Less The agency said it also selected Firefly Aerospace to build the spacecraft that will transport drones from the Earth's orbit to the moon for its MoonFall mission, which is targeted for launch in 2028.

NASA's revised plan for Artemis, which was created during President Donald Trump's first term, involves putting infrastructure, centered on a moon base, and vehicles on the moon's surface.

NASA's second Artemis mission launched in April, sending four astronauts around the moon and back as one of a few precursor missions to the first crewed moon landing since 1972.

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