NASA orders moon buggies, drones for lunar base after Artemis II

Washington: NASA is moving ahead with plans for a sprawling moon base, awarding hundreds of millions of dollars in contracts for landers, rovers and drones less than two months after Artemis II’s record-breaking lunar flyaround.

The space agency outlined the first phase of its moon base plans Tuesday. Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin will supply two landers to deliver moon buggies to the lunar surface near the south pole. The lunar terrain vehicles will be built by Astrolab and Lunar Outpost.

Firefly Aerospace, which landed successfully on the moon last year, will deliver the first drones to the moon under the new contracts.

NASA said the hardware is scheduled to arrive before the first Artemis astronauts land on the moon, with that mission planned for as early as 2028.

The contracts mark a shift from planning to hardware deployment for the lunar base, which is intended to support sustained human presence and scientific work near the moon’s south pole.