NextSTEP-2 Appendix R: Lunar Logistics and Mobility Studies: NASA web page¶
Page: https://www.nasa.gov/general/nextstep-r-lunar-logistics-and-mobility-studies/, titled "NextSTEP-2 R: Lunar
Logistics and Mobility Studies". An article by Danny Baird, NASA Communications Specialist, dated 19 August 2024;
its "Study Contracts Awarded" section reports the awards of 23 January 2025, so the page was updated after its
date. Fetched 2026-10-01T18:49:40Z. File:
sources/linked/nasa-gov-general-nextstep-r-lunar-logistics-and-mobility-studies.md.
Summary. The solicitation page for NextSTEP-2 Appendix R, which sought "industry-led concept definition and maturation studies that address lunar surface logistics and uncrewed surface mobility capabilities". NASA says it "has identified two gaps in its lunar architecture: an integrated surface logistics architecture and uncrewed surface mobility systems for lunar surface assets", and points to three architecture white papers for the capabilities it has in mind: the 2024 "Lunar Surface Cargo" and "Lunar Mobility Drivers and Needs", and the 2023 "Lunar Logistics Drivers and Needs". Seven study areas. On 23 January 2025 NASA announced study contracts with "a combined value of $24 million" to nine companies. The page names no paper called "Lunar Logistics and Mobility", so it doesn't identify the 2025 Update's paper of that name (open question 30). The topic's home is RT-2 Industry Collaboration.
What the page says¶
Solicitation number and dates. "NNH16ZCQ001K-Appendix-R". "August 16, 2024 – Presolicitation Released";
"September 20, 2024 – Solicitation Released"; "January 23, 2025 – Study Contracts Awarded" (each linked: two
sam.gov notices and a NASA news release, none fetched).
What it sought ("Solicitation Overview"). NASA "intends to release a solicitation under the Next Space Technologies for Exploration Partnerships-2 (Next STEP-2) Broad Agency Announcement (BAA) to seek industry-led concept definition and maturation studies that address lunar surface logistics and uncrewed surface mobility capabilities."
Why ("Solicitation Overview"). After a paragraph on the Moon to Mars Architecture ("NASA's architecture approach distills agency-developed objectives into operational capabilities and elements"):
"NASA has identified two gaps in its lunar architecture: an integrated surface logistics architecture and uncrewed surface mobility systems for lunar surface assets. The objective of these studies is to seek proposals from industry for the conduct of studies specifically focused on the envisioned logistics and mobility capabilities as stated in NASA's 2024 Architecture Concept Review White Papers (Lunar Surface Cargo, Lunar Mobility Drivers and Needs) and 2023 Architecture Concept Review White Paper (Lunar Logistics Drivers and Needs)."
"Gaps" here is the page's own word for two missing capabilities. The page doesn't tie it to the ADD's technology gaps or to the "architecture gaps" of the 2024 partnerships paper, and the wiki doesn't either.
Who runs it. "The Exploration Systems Development Mission Directorate (ESDMD) Strategy and Architecture Office (SAO) Lunar Logistics and Mobility Studies BAA (NextSTEP-2 Appendix R)".
Goals, as printed:
- "Identify innovative strategies and concepts for logistics and mobility solutions", including "but not limited to": synergies between logistics and mobility capabilities; "logistics- and mobility-specific needs that may be beyond current and/or planned commercial capabilities"; "innovative ideas for partnership business models, including intellectual property, asset ownership, and timing of asset delivery, and/or services to the government"; and "the use of advanced robotic and/or autonomous capabilities"
- "Evaluate and understand driving technology maturity, cost, and schedule drivers for meeting reference technical requirements, and/or drivers for validating a concept of operations"
- "Obtain data that supports NASA's ability to define, derive, and validate logistics and mobility requirements", which "could inform a baseline mission concept" and "contribute to the verification/validation of logistics and mobility approaches that could support NASA's lunar architecture"
Seven study areas, NASA's definitions:
| Study area | Definition, as printed |
|---|---|
| Logistics carriers | "Logistics carriers of various sizes, volumes, and configurations and the environmental control of the cargo compartment" |
| Logistics Handling and Offloading | "Handling and offloading unpressurized cargo, carriers, fluids, and gases" |
| Logistics Transfer | "The transfer of cargo from the lunar surface to a pressurized volume" |
| Staging, Storage and Tracking | "Managing surface logistics inventory prior to, during, and after delivery to the final point of use" |
| Trash Management | "Trash management that contributes to mission sustainability and maximizes crew efficiency" |
| Surface Cargo Transportation and Mobility Systems | "The movement of cargo containers on the lunar surface after delivery by a lander" |
| Integrated Strategy | "An approach for an integrated assessment of the lunar surface logistics strategy and the transportation of the logistics to the pressurized habitation elements. This can also include the incorporation of the launch vehicle and cargo lander as part of the transportation" |
Study contracts ("Study Contracts Awarded"). "On January 23, 2025, NASA announced new study contracts as a result of this solicitation. The selected proposals have a combined value of $24 million, spread across multiple companies". The page gives no value per company. The areas each company studies, as printed, shortened to the study areas above (the ✓ marks are the wiki's transcription):
| Company, as printed | Carriers | Handling and offloading | Transfer | Staging, storage, tracking | Trash | Surface cargo and mobility | Integrated strategy |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Blue Origin, Merritt Island, Florida | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | |
| Intuitive Machines, Houston | ✓ | ✓ | |||||
| Leidos, Reston, Virginia | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ||
| Lockheed Martin, Littleton, Colorado | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ||||
| MDA Space, Houston | ✓ | ||||||
| Moonprint, Dover, Delaware | ✓ | ||||||
| Pratt Miller Defense, New Hudson, Michigan | ✓ | ||||||
| Sierra Space, Louisville, Colorado | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ||
| Special Aerospace Services, Huntsville, Alabama | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Companies per area (the wiki's count) | 6 | 3 | 5 | 4 | 3 | 6 | 4 |
The page's company lines say "logistical carriers", "surface cargo and mobility" and "integrated strategies" where its study-area list says "Logistics carriers", "Surface Cargo Transportation and Mobility Systems" and "Integrated Strategy".
Picture. An image (uploads/2024/08/3-architecture-lores.png, not fetched) captioned "Artists' rendering of an
imagined lunar architecture. Not intended to represent any elements under consideration by NASA."
Against other sources¶
These comparisons are the wiki's.
- The February 2025 workshop slide (Architecture Updates deck, slide 18) briefs the same solicitation with the same seven study areas. Differences, as printed: the slide has two pre-solicitation dates (16 and 27 August 2024), the page one; the slide ends with a "Source Selection Statement January 22, 2025", the page with "Study Contracts Awarded" on 23 January (one day apart, and not the same event); the solicitation cover on the slide reads "NNH16ZCQ001K-Appendix-R-1" under a "Human Exploration and Operations Mission Directorate" letterhead, the page "NNH16ZCQ001K-Appendix-R" and "ESDMD … SAO". The slide names no company and no value (source page).
- The February 2025 white-paper briefing "Lunar Logistics, Mobility, and Cargo" names the same three papers (slide 2), and says "capability gaps have been identified in: Logistics Systems … and Uncrewed Mobility Systems", the same two subjects as this page's "two gaps" (source page).
- NASA's Industry Engagement page lists Appendix R as "study proposals from industry focused on integrated surface logistics architectures and uncrewed mobility systems", this page's two subjects (source page).
- The 2025 Architecture Update cites a 2024 white paper "Lunar Logistics and Mobility" (pp. 5, 9). This page names the 2024 papers on the subject as "Lunar Surface Cargo" and "Lunar Mobility Drivers and Needs", and no paper of the Update's title. The Update cites "Lunar Surface Cargo" separately on p. 9, which leaves the mobility paper as the only other 2024 paper this page names. That is a reading, not a match any source makes; the wiki still treats the Update's paper as unidentified (open question 30).
What changed by Rev C¶
The wiki's comparison:
- Uncrewed mobility. ADD Rev C added the Lunar Utility Rover, an uncrewed rover that moves "thousands of kilograms" of cargo. The Update says its addition "responds to previously identified needs for additional autonomous lunar surface mobility capabilities" (p. 5). This page's "uncrewed surface mobility systems for lunar surface assets" is the same subject. No source says the rover came from Appendix R or its studies.
- Logistics. "Lunar logistics capabilities" is the first of the Update's three focus areas for 2026 (p. 18). No source the wiki holds reports what the Appendix R studies found.
- Study areas and technology gaps. By title, four of the seven areas share a subject with Rev C technology gaps: carriers with #0701 Packing, Transport, and Use of Conditioned Supplies; handling and offloading with #0806 Payload Offloading, Handling, and Manipulation; trash with #0702 Waste Management; surface cargo and mobility with #0805 Autonomous Surface Mobility and Navigation and #0808 Relocation of Large Assets. The pairing is the wiki's; the page names no gap and the gaps don't cite Appendix R.
Moon Base. The page predates the Moon Base (announced March 2026) and doesn't mention it.
Related pages¶
RT-2 Industry Collaboration · Logistics Systems · Mobility Systems · Lunar Utility Rover · Lunar Surface Cargo (2024) · Lunar Mobility Drivers and Needs (2024) · Lunar logistics briefing, Feb 2024 (the 2023 paper, not held)