NASA has unveiled a major update on its long-term plan to build a permanent human settlement on the Moon, following the successful Artemis II mission last month. The agency said the future lunar base could eventually stretch across hundreds of square miles near the Moon’s south pole.

NASA officials described the project as a critical step toward sustained lunar exploration and future missions to Mars. The agency also confirmed new partnerships with private companies, including Jeff Bezos-owned Blue Origin, as it prepares for a planned crewed Moon landing in 2027.

NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman said engineers are now entering a phase focused on understanding how humans and machines can survive on the Moon for extended periods.

“The grand return” to lunar exploration is getting closer, Isaacman said during a briefing in Washington. He added that NASA will continue “figuring out what works and what doesn’t” in one of the harshest environments humans have ever attempted to inhabit.

Extreme lunar conditions

Isaacman said the Moon presents severe environmental challenges for astronauts and equipment. Surface temperatures can climb above 480 degrees Fahrenheit in sunlight and fall below minus 328 degrees Fahrenheit in darkness.

He also highlighted permanently shadowed craters near the lunar south pole, which scientists believe contain valuable resources and ancient material untouched by sunlight for billions of years.

“There is no atmosphere to moderate these extremes,” Isaacman said. He also pointed to radiation exposure, solar particle events, and meteorite impacts as major risks for future lunar crews.

NASA officials believe those conditions make the Moon an ideal testing ground for deep-space operations before missions to Mars begin later in the decade.

Blue Origin joins project

NASA also announced a major procurement agreement involving Blue Origin, which will provide lunar-terrain vehicle delivery landers for the Moon Base program.

Officials described the deal as the first procurement award tied directly to the lunar base effort. Carlos Garcia-Galan, program executive for the Moon Base initiative, said NASA has already started the project’s first development phase.

Garcia-Galan said the lunar settlement could eventually cover “hundreds of square miles,” giving it a footprint comparable to a large city. The base will sit farther south than any Apollo astronaut ever traveled.

NASA expects astronauts to live and work there for extended periods while conducting scientific research and preparing technologies for future Mars missions. The agency has previously estimated the broader lunar base effort could cost around $20 billion.

Artemis missions expand

The first mission connected to the project, Moonbase 1, will use Blue Origin’s Mark I Endurance lander. NASA currently targets a fall 2026 launch for the mission.

The spacecraft will carry multiple payloads to the Shackleton Connecting Ridge area near the lunar south pole. It will also transport two NASA science payloads and test technologies designed to reduce risks for future human landings.

“Every mission supporting the lunar base helps us learn and de-risk crewed missions,” Isaacman said. He added that Blue Origin’s involvement makes the mission especially important for the Artemis campaign.

Moonbase 2 will use Astrobotic’s Griffin lander and deliver more than 1100 pounds of cargo to the lunar surface. The mission will transport Astrolab’s FLIP rover and support research into autonomous systems, logistics, and astronaut mobility.

Moonbase 3 will focus primarily on scientific research and carry the first payload selected through NASA’s PRISM initiative. NASA is also preparing for Artemis III, which currently targets a mid-2027 launch. The mission aims to return astronauts to the lunar surface for the first time since Apollo 17 in 1972.

“America is returning to the moon,” Isaacman said during the briefing.