Moon Base phases¶
NASA will build the Moon Base in the lunar South Pole region in three phases. The end goal is "a continuous human presence on the lunar surface" (Users Guide, p. 3).
- Phase 1: robotic access, experiments and learning.
- Phase 2: first shared infrastructure.
- Phase 3: a permanent, continuously crewed outpost.
The Users Guide gives each phase's numbers (launches, landings, mass to surface) but no dates. The NASA web pages give the dates. The Moon Base Program's Ignition deck of 26 March 2026 gives the same numbers, each with a date range, and a per-year table for each phase, from 2026 to 2036 (Ignition deck 2).
The three phases at a glance¶
| Phase 1 | Phase 2 | Phase 3 | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Name (web) | "Gain Reliable Access, Experiment, and Learn" | "Build and Expand" | "Live and Work on the Moon" |
| Dates (web) | Now–2029 | 2029–2032 | 2032–Beyond |
| Launches | 25 | 27 | 29 |
| Landings | 21 | 24 | 28 |
| Payload to surface | ~4,000 kg | ~60,000 kg | ~150,000 kg |
| Goals (Users Guide) | Achieve high-rate, reliable surface access. Establish ground truth for Moon Base landing sites. Experiment and test capabilities. First crewed Moon Base mission. | Establish initial lunar surface infrastructure. Increase CLPS payload mass capability to 5 MT. Technology demonstrations. Semi-annual crewed missions. | Regolith manipulation and site preparation. Increase CLPS payload mass capability to 8 MT. Uncrewed cargo return capabilities. Continuous crew presence. |
Sources:
- Launches, landings, mass and goals: Users Guide, p. 4, checked against the PDF graphic.
- Names and dates: Moon Base Phases and the Moon Base encyclopedia entry, "Development".
The Users Guide does not say whether its launch, landing and mass figures are per-phase or cumulative. The 2029 and 2032 boundary years appear in two phases each, as written on the web pages. Both points are in open questions (5 and 6).
Figures per phase¶
In Ignition deck 2 (26 March 2026). The deck prints all nine of the guide's figures, each set in a box with a date range: Phase 1 "Now through 2028", Phase 2 "2029–2033", Phase 3 "2033–2036". It adds rover counts for Phases 2 and 3 ("7 rovers", "4 rovers") and what the payload is: Phase 2 "Pressurized Rover, MoonFall drones, solar power stations, nuclear power demos, surface comm, science"; Phase 3 "Rovers, habitats, logistics, fission surface power, science" (Ignition deck 2, slides 9, 20, 30).
Its per-year tables show the figures are per phase, for Phases 2 and 3 exactly. Phase 2's table runs 2029 to 2032, and its yearly counts sum to 27 launches and 24 landings, the box's figures. Phase 3's runs 2033 to 2036 and sums to 29 launches, 28 landings and 4 rovers, the box's figures. Phase 1's table runs 2026 to 2028; its landings sum to 21, but its launches sum to 24 against the box's 25. These sums are the wiki's, from the printed counts. Each table gives one investment figure for the whole phase: "$10 BILLION" for Phase 1 (2026–2028), "$10 BILLION" for Phase 2 (2029–2032) and "$10 BILLION +" for Phase 3 (2033–2036). The deck gives no total, and the wiki doesn't add them (Ignition deck 2, slides 17, 27 and 36).
| Year | 2026 | 2027 | 2028 | 2029 | 2030 | 2031 | 2032 | 2033 | 2034 | 2035 | 2036 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Phase (table) | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 |
| Launches | 2 | 10 | 12 | 6 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 8 |
| Landers | 2 | 9 | 10 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 6 | 6 | 7 | 7 | 8 |
The landers row adds up the lander icons for each year (the wiki's sum). The deck's source page transcribes each icon and count. A summary slide sets the three tables side by side with the same counts, except that it gives 2036 seven launches, not eight (Ignition deck 2, slides 36–37). In the Phase 3 table each year has one habitation icon (a house) and, in 2034 and 2036, one gear icon; the deck doesn't say what the gear stands for.
In the Building the Moon Base fact sheet (24 March 2026): Phase 1 "Up to 25 missions, including 21 landings" and "four tons of payload"; Phase 2 "up to 60 tons of cargo during this phase through up to 24 landings"; Phase 3 "up to 38 tons of cargo per year", with no landing count (Building the Moon Base fact sheet, p. 1). Reading these as the guide's own Phase 1 and 2 figures is the wiki's reading. The fact sheet gives Phase 3 as a yearly rate, so the wiki doesn't set it against the guide's 150,000 kg. The wiki doesn't convert "tons" or equate "missions" with launches (open question 6).
The deck's dates. Its slides disagree with each other and with the web pages. Slide 5 has the phases start "now", in 2029 and in 2032, as the web pages do. But its figure boxes end Phase 1 in 2028 and run Phase 2 to 2033, while Phase 2's table stops at 2032; Phase 3's box and table start in 2033 and run to 2036. The tables (slides 36–37) lay the phases end to end, 2026–2028, 2029–2032 and 2033–2036, with no shared year. The wiki keeps the web pages' dates (open question 5).
Phase names¶
The sources name the phases five ways: three on Ignition day, 24 March 2026, one in the Moon Base Program's deck (Ignition deck 2, which the Ignition page lists on 26 March 2026), and one on the web pages. The deck's date is the listing date; its source page gives the wiki's reading that it was probably presented on Ignition day (Ignition deck 2, "Oddities"). The Users Guide's phase graphic prints no names, only "PHASE 01" to "03" (Users Guide, p. 4).
| Phase | Ignition release, 24 March 2026 | Ignition fact sheet, 24 March 2026 | Building the Moon Base fact sheet, 24 March 2026 | Ignition deck 2, 26 March 2026 | Phases page and encyclopedia entry (as fetched 1 October 2026) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | "Build, Test, Learn" | "Build, Test, and Learn" | "Experiment, Learn" (Now–2029) | "Secure reliable access to the surface and experiment" ("Starts now") | "Gain Reliable Access, Experiment, and Learn" |
| 2 | "Establish Early Infrastructure" | "Establish Early Infrastructure" | "Early Habitation" (2029–2032) | "Establish the initial Moon Base operating capability" ("Starts 2029") | "Build and Expand" |
| 3 | "Enable Long‑Duration Human Presence" | "Enable Continuous Human Presence" | "Sustained Human Presence" (2032 and beyond) | "Achieve semi-permanent crew presence" ("Starts 2032") | "Live and Work on the Moon" |
Sources: Ignition release, "Building the Moon Base"; Ignition fact sheet, pp. 1–2; Building the Moon Base fact sheet, p. 1; Ignition deck 2, slide 5; Moon Base Phases. The web pages are newer, so this wiki uses their names. The release and the Ignition fact sheet give no dates; the Building the Moon Base fact sheet gives the web pages' dates, and so do the deck's start years. See open question 76.
"Semi-permanent" or "continuous". The deck names Phase 3 "Achieve semi-permanent crew presence", and the Building the Moon Base fact sheet's Phase 3 has "semi-permanent habitation modules". The Users Guide's Phase 3 goal is "Continuous Crew Presence" (p. 4), the Ignition fact sheet's name "Enable Continuous Human Presence", and the phases page's Phase Three "a permanent lunar outpost". The deck's own Habitats slide, in Phase 3, aims to "Enable a continuous human presence" (slide 33). Recorded as printed (open question 77).
A 2030 date. Two Ignition procurement summaries speak of "establishing a permanent lunar outpost by 2030" (Moon Base Capabilities RFI) and "establishing a permanent lunar presence by 2030" (Lunar Science and Technology Payloads RFI) (Ignition page). The web pages put Phase Three, the "permanent lunar outpost", at "2032–Beyond". No source explains the difference (open question 77). The Administrator's Directive 6 of 22 May 2026 creates the Moon Base Program "to enable a sustained U.S. presence on the Moon by 2030", and asks for LR-1 "ready for launch by 2030" (Directive 7) (workforce note).
The phases in missions, as the program manager put it (August 2026, as reported): Phase 1 has "multiple robotic missions and one Artemis IV human landing with some limited interaction, especially with the LTV", and permanent infrastructure starts after it, "in the '28-'29 time frame"; Phase 2 brings crewed missions "at least once a year, graduating to twice a year", with the pressurized rover "at the end of phase two"; Phase 3 brings "several habitation components that allow two to four astronauts to do some longer stays, graduating to hopefully permanent" (podcast). He names Artemis IV as Phase 1's crewed landing; the documents on this page don't name the mission (open question 9).
Phase 1: Now–2029¶
- Focus: "gaining reliable access to the lunar surface and building a deeper understanding of the environment". NASA will "identify promising locations for future infrastructure, improve mission capabilities, and reduce risk before astronauts arrive" (Moon Base Phases, "Phase One").
- Scale: "more than twenty robotic landings, with each mission designed to incrementally advance system capabilities and validate operational components for those that follow" (Moon Base update, Aug 2026). The Users Guide gives 21 landings (p. 4).
- Role of flight tests: "While many Moon Base–enabling technologies already exist on Earth, NASA must mature these capabilities through flight test missions. Near-term flights aboard CLPS landers and other commercial missions during phase one will prove these technologies in space and create opportunities for iteration and advancement, all while buying down risk for subsequent Moon Base phases" (Users Guide, p. 6).
- Influence on later phases: "Missions in Phase 1 can directly influence the systems that NASA and its partners build in Phases 2 and 3" (p. 6).
- In the Building the Moon Base fact sheet (24 March 2026): "robotic and early uncrewed missions to scout, experiment, and prepare for surface operations ahead of the astronaut missions in 2028"; "Crewed and autonomous rovers for basic mobility and surface improvement demonstrations, hopper drones called MoonFall, and communications relay and observation satellites"; "Early power, navigation, communication, and nuclear RHU demonstrations to ensure systems can survive the lunar night"; "All the scientific payloads that can be incorporated on every lander and rover" (Building the Moon Base fact sheet, p. 1).
- In Ignition deck 2 (26 March 2026): the guide's four goals, with "Complete first crewed Moon Base mission". Assets labeled on its Phase 1 render: navigation capability, orbital comm relays, observation satellites, MoonFall drones, CLPS, the Human Landing System, VIPER, crewed and uncrewed LTVs, and "RHU Survive the Night". Key missions: the LTVs, MoonFall, communications and observation satellites, VIPER, and radioisotope heater unit demonstrations, whose landers "will survive 120+ continuous hours of darkness and send a signal back to Earth" (Ignition deck 2, slides 7–16).
- What it needs: Phase 1 functional gaps. Work on the guide's near-term technology and knowledge challenges also starts in Phase 1, "to enable essential phase two and phase three capabilities" (p. 11).
- Missions and assets named for Phase 1: see Missions and assets.
Phase 2: 2029–2032¶
- Focus: "NASA will begin deploying the first infrastructure needed to support long-term operations on the Moon. Early power systems, cargo transportation, logistics, and communications capabilities will expand humanity's footprint". The infrastructure will be spread "across multiple locations" (Moon Base Phases, "Phase Two").
- Asset named: the JAXA pressurized rover.
- In the Ignition release: "semi‑habitable infrastructure and regular logistics", "recurring astronaut operations on the surface", and "major international contributions, including JAXA's … pressurized rover, and potentially other partner scientific payloads, rovers, and infrastructure/transportation capabilities" (Ignition release, "Building the Moon Base").
- In the Building the Moon Base fact sheet: "assembling semi-permanent infrastructure and begin early habitation and logistics operations"; "improved solar and initial nuclear-based power stations (potentially including both fission reactor and RTGs), upgraded rovers, advanced MoonFall drones, and habitation"; "surface-to-orbit communications stations to ensure reliable, high-quality connectivity across the lunar South Pole"; cargo on "low, medium and heavy cargo-class landers" (Building the Moon Base fact sheet, p. 1). It doesn't name JAXA's rover.
- In Ignition deck 2 (26 March 2026): goals "Secure initial site(s)", "Establish initial lunar infrastructure", "Increase CLPS lander payload mass capability to 5 MT", "Technology demonstrations to enable lunar permanence", "Semi-annual crewed missions". Assets labeled on its Phase 2 render: solar power augmentation, "Nuclear Power/ Thermal", power infrastructure, a logistics demo, "LTV Gen 2", surface comm and nav, the Pressurized Rover, excavator rovers, and site preparation and logistics rovers. Key missions: JAXA's Pressurized Rover, solar array stations ("10 kW+ during illumination", "360 kWh during shadow"), a surface network with "~10km range", site preparation and logistics rovers, and nuclear surface power demonstrations. The Phase 2 table has the Pressurized Rover's icon in 2031 and MoonFall's in 2030 and 2032 (Ignition deck 2, slides 18–27).
Phase 3: 2032 and beyond¶
- Focus: "assembling a permanent lunar outpost where astronauts can live and work for extended periods. Habitats, power systems, communications, transportation, and other critical capabilities will come together" (Moon Base Phases, "Phase Three").
- Assets named in the Ignition release, not on the phases page: "As cargo‑capable human landing systems (HLS) come online, NASA will deliver heavier infrastructure needed for a continuous human foothold on the Moon … This will include ASI's (Italian Space Agency) Multi-purpose Habitats (MPH), CSA's (Canadian Space Agency) Lunar Utility Vehicle, and opportunities for additional contributions in habitation, surface mobility and logistics" (Ignition release, "Building the Moon Base"). The phases page names no Phase Three asset. See Missions and assets.
- In the Building the Moon Base fact sheet: "a true enduring presence as crew rotations become routine"; "semi-permanent habitation modules with spacious interior volume"; "An operational fission surface power station … leveraging in situ resource manufacturing"; "Operating pressurized rovers that enable long distance exploration"; "advanced logistics networks, leveraging a fleet of crewed and autonomous rovers"; "up to 38 tons of cargo per year", using "low cost, reusable heavy lift capabilities" (Building the Moon Base fact sheet, p. 1). It names no partner asset. Its pressurized rovers are in Phase 3; the release, the phases page and Ignition deck 2 put JAXA's pressurized rover in Phase 2, and the deck's Phase 2 table has its icon in 2031. None says when the first one operates.
- In Ignition deck 2 (26 March 2026): goals "Enable long-duration and -distance human exploration", "Increase CLPS lander payload mass capability to 8 MT", "Regolith manipulation & site preparation capable", "Routine logistics deliveries from Earth", "Initial uncrewed mission cargo return capabilities". Assets labeled on its Phase 3 render: cargo return, fission surface power, logistics, ISRU, habitats, power distribution. Key missions in slides 28–33: end-to-end logistics (sized by "~8,000 kg of carriers, consumables, and other items to support a 4crew, 28-day mission") and habitats ("Multiple habitable volumes across multiple site locations") (Ignition deck 2, slides 28–33), then cargo return ("mass goal of 500 kg") and ISRU ("continue demo and begin implementation") (slides 34–35).
Capabilities by phase, in Ignition deck 2¶
The deck's second part takes six capability areas through the three phases (Ignition deck 2, slides 41–62). In short, as printed:
| Area | Phase 1 | Phase 2 | Phase 3 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Communications and PNT (slide 51) | "Deploy initial 5-satellite constellation"; "Add second provider constellation"; "Add observation capability"; LunaNET interoperability baseline | Permanent surface "cell towers"; "Clock technology demonstration" | "Coordinated communication across all assets"; "Clock ensembles – persistent time broadcast" |
| Power (slides 53–54) | "Solar Battery/ RFC Power"; "Demo initial hibernation points"; "Demo initial Radioisotope Heater Units (RHUs)" | Solar array and "Radioisotope Thermal Generator (RTG) Power Stations"; routine RHU and RTG use; demonstrations of wireless charging, "dust tolerant electrical connectors", cable deployment and "reactor surface power" | "Fission Surface Power"; "Power distribution deployed to support habitats and surface assets"; "Permanently Shadowed Region exploration" |
| Mobility (slides 56–57) | VIPER, "Astrolab - FLIP" and "UAE Rover – Rashid" as CLPS science rovers; MoonFall; LTVs with a "one-year design life & NASA as the only user" | LTVs with more payload capability and "Regolith manipulation demo(s)"; JAXA's pressurized rover; partner rovers for site preparation, cable laying and logistics | LTVs with a "10-year design life requirement (NASA & commercial users)", "Full logistics transfer", PSR exploration "using RHU & RTG" |
| Habitation and logistics (slide 62; no Phase 1 column) | "Logistics Deliveries" (label on slide 61) | "0.5 to 1.5 metric tons" of initial logistics; "Demo surface mating"; "Demo small cargo return"; "Early pressurized module(s) with minimal environmental control and life support" | "Up to eight metric tons per 28-day mission"; "Demo med/large cargo return" ("Goal: 500 kg"); "Initial surface habitats > 100 m³", partner and US; airlocks and nodes |
| ISRU (slide 35) | "experiment & demo" | "experiment & demo" | "continue demo and begin implementation" |
Transportation is described by program rather than phase: CLPS evolves to raise "Lander payload delivery capability through Phase 3 and beyond", with "two new Requests for Task Order Proposals … to support Phase 1" and "a follow-on CLPS solicitation to support Phase 2&3" (slide 46); heavy cargo comes from "Human-class Delivery Landers" drawing on the Human Landing System (slide 47). The deck's 2026 procurement dates are on its source page.
On the Moon Base Systems page¶
NASA's Moon Base Systems page (undated; images uploaded May 2026) takes five systems through the phases: Mobility; Communications, Positioning, Navigation, Timing; Habitation; Power; Logistics (Moon Base Systems). Its phase blocks follow deck 2's capability slides closely. Against the table above (the wiki's comparison):
| Area | What the page adds | What the deck has that the page doesn't list |
|---|---|---|
| Mobility | Phase One LTV figures: uncrewed "at least 497 miles (800 kilometers)", crewed "559 miles (900 kilometers) or more, including at least 62 miles (100 kilometers) of additional crewed traverses", "slopes of up to 20 degrees, survive up to 150 hours in shadow", "speeds up to six miles (10 kilometers) per hour". Phase Two pressurized rover: "two astronauts in a shirt-sleeve environment for up to 30 days", "an approximate 10-year lifespan", "slopes up to 15 degrees", "150 hours in shadow", "up to two miles (3.5 kilometers) per hour" | The Phase 1 CLPS science rovers FLIP and Rashid (VIPER and MoonFall are named) |
| Communications and PNT | Phase Three infrastructure "across broader regions of the lunar surface" | "Add observation capability" (Phase 1); "cell towers" as a term |
| Habitation | Phase Two "initial pressurized modules designed to support short-duration stays"; Phase Three "100-cubic-meter-class modules, airlocks, and module aggregation nodes" | — |
| Power | Phase One "self-supported power generation and survival" | Phase 1 "Solar Battery/ RFC Power" and "hibernation points"; the Phase 2 demonstration of "reactor surface power" |
| Logistics | Phase Two "cargo modules", "early surface mating operations", "initial small-scale cargo return"; Phase Three "up to eight metric tons per 28-day mission" and cargo return "up to 500 kilograms" | Phase 2's "0.5 to 1.5 metric tons" |
| ISRU | — | the whole area (slide 35) |
The page names no ADD element, function or gap. Absences on it are omissions, not changes.
Why phased¶
The Users Guide says the phased approach "addresses two key strategic factors" (Users Guide, p. 6):
- Market enablers. "Applying lessons learned from the CLPS … program, NASA will use bulk buys and multiple awards to enable cost savings in long lead parts purchases, reassurance of capital investments, and diffusion of base costs."
- Technology readiness. Earth-proven technologies must be matured "through flight test missions" (quoted above).
It also describes a shift from self-sufficient elements to shared services. "While NASA and its partners have designed early Artemis program elements (e.g., the initial surface habitat) for self-sufficiency, ongoing exploration creates needs for shared lunar infrastructure". NASA and its partners "can start building scalable, shared systems for power, logistics, communications, and navigation" (p. 6).
Relation to the Artemis mission sequence¶
The March 2026 Artemis fact sheet keeps the first crewed landing in 2028 (Artemis IV) and says "construction of a permanent lunar base effectively begins this year and in early 2027 with the first robotic landings" (Going back to the Moon, pp. 1–2). It does not mention the Moon Base phases. This fact sheet is the Ignition "Going Back to the Moon" fact sheet of 24 March 2026 (source page).
- The first crewed Moon Base mission. No source says which Artemis mission is the "First crewed Moon Base mission" that the Users Guide places in Phase 1. The Building the Moon Base fact sheet places Phase 1 "ahead of the astronaut missions in 2028", plural, and ESDMD's Ignition deck gives a "Notional Plan for 2028 Initial Crewed Landing Mission" at the "SOUTH POLE (84-90 deg)", with four crew and two on the surface (Ignition deck 1, slide 18). The Moon Base Program's deck keeps the goal, as "Complete first crewed Moon Base mission", and labels the Human Landing System and a crewed LTV on its Phase 1 render (Ignition deck 2, slides 7 and 10). None of them calls a named mission a Moon Base mission (open question 9).
- Cadence. NASA's Artemis page has Artemis IV land in 2028, Artemis V launch "in 2028", and "a cadence of one mission per year thereafter" (Artemis page, "Missions"). The Ignition release adds that "Looking beyond Artemis V", NASA will target "landings every six months" with "more commercially procured and reusable hardware" (Ignition release, "Going back to the Moon"). That fits the Users Guide's Phase 2 goal of "Semi-annual Crewed Missions" (p. 4), which the Moon Base Program's deck repeats (Ignition deck 2, slide 18); neither the release nor the deck links the two. The Administrator's May 2026 note puts the Artemis program's "transition to commercial pathways with crewed missions as often as every six months" "at some point in the future" (workforce note).
- Moon Base I and the 2028 landing. The May 2026 release says Moon Base I will "demonstrate capabilities that reduce risk for future crewed Artemis landing missions in 2028" (May 2026 release). It doesn't say which mission is the first crewed Moon Base mission either (open question 9).
Relation to the ADD¶
The Users Guide was published after ADD Rev C (Dec 2025). It ties the ADD's functional gaps to Moon Base Phase 1 (pp. 8–10), and its technology and data gaps to "near-term Moon Base development", with Phase 1 missions maturing technologies "to enable essential phase two and phase three capabilities" (p. 11). No source maps ADD segments to Moon Base phases: none of the 2026 documents, decks or Moon Base pages names a segment beside the Moon Base (searched for "segment" and the three lunar segments' names). The wiki records such a mapping only where a source makes it (Segments).
Related pages¶
Moon Base hub · Phase 1 functional gaps · Technology and knowledge challenges · Missions and assets · Environment
Sources¶
Users Guide · Moon Base Phases · Moon Base encyclopedia entry · Moon Base update, Aug 2026 · Going back to the Moon · Ignition release · Ignition page · Artemis page · May 2026 release · Ignition fact sheet · Building the Moon Base fact sheet · Ignition deck 1 · Ignition deck 2 · Moon Base Systems · Administrator's workforce note, May 2026 · Moon Base podcast, Aug 2026