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NASA Provides Update on Moon Base Rovers, Landers, Missions

Page: NASA news release RELEASE26-046 by Elizabeth Shaw, NASA Headquarters, 26 May 2026 (last updated 27 May 2026). https://www.nasa.gov/news-release/nasa-provides-update-on-moon-base-rovers-landers-missions/. Fetched 2026-10-01T18:39:08Z. File: sources/moon-base/nasa-gov-news-release-nasa-provides-update-on-moon-base-rovers-landers-missions.md. An editor's note says it "was updated May 27, 2026, to provide additional details on the crewed lunar terrain vehicles".

Summary. NASA's May 2026 Moon Base event: the first three numbered Moon Base missions, the lunar terrain vehicle awards to Astrolab and Lunar Outpost, Blue Origin's task orders to deliver them, CLPS 2.0, and MoonFall. The encyclopedia entry's "May" line summarizes it (encyclopedia, "History"). It is the only source read that numbers Moon Base missions, and the only one that relates the LTV vendors' 2026 rover names to the FLEX and Eagle rovers in ADD Rev C's LTV image.

Key points

  • The first three Moon Base missions (the release's list):
Mission Lander Payloads and purpose Timing (as of May 2026)
Moon Base I Blue Origin's Blue Moon Mark 1 Endurance SCALPSS ("how thrusters interact with the Moon's surface") and the Laser Retroreflective Array. "The mission will land on the Shackleton Connecting Ridge to demonstrate capabilities that reduce risk for future crewed Artemis landing missions in 2028." "no earlier than fall 2026"
Moon Base II "Astrobotic's Griffin lander" "more than 1,100 pounds of cargo", "including Astrolab's FLIP rover, to mature mobility systems that inform future lunar terrain vehicle, or LTV, operations" "later this year"
Moon Base III Intuitive Machines' Nova-C Trinity "the first payload selected through NASA's Payloads and Research Investigations on the Surface of the Moon initiative", Lunar Vertex (lunar swirls), plus payloads "from ESA … and the Korea Astronomy and Space Science Institute" "also targeted for this year"

"These missions are the first of more than a dozen missions that will be announced this year". The phases page lists the same three landers in Phase One without these numbers, and gives Griffin-1 to Voyager Technologies, not Astrobotic (open question 78). Matching the numbered missions to the phases page's rows is the wiki's reading (Missions and assets).

  • Lunar terrain vehicles. "NASA has awarded Astrolab $219 million and Lunar Outpost $220 million to build and deliver the first phase of LTVs", under "the Phase 1 High Achievability Mission task orders of the Lunar Terrain Vehicle Services contract", to deploy "crewed and uncrewed mobility systems to the lunar surface by 2028 through the agency's CLPS … initiative".
    • Astrolab's CLV‑1 is "adapted from the company's FLEX architecture": "a mass of about 2,000 pounds, and the ability to reach more than 6 mph on level terrain".
    • Lunar Outpost's Pegasus is "a lighter, mission‑ready evolution of its Eagle rover designed explicitly to meet NASA's updated crewed LTV requirements", "Operational for up to a year", with "manual, autonomous, or teleoperated driving at speeds more than 9 mph".
    • Uses: "characterize terrain hazards, move materials, pre-stage resources", and "autonomous traverses, terrain preparation, scientific investigations, technology demonstrations, and astronaut transport". Next 18 months: final designs, "crewed evaluations", flight units.
  • Delivery. "NASA awarded Blue Origin $188 million with an option period worth $280.4 million for two task orders", the CX-2 task order under CLPS 1.0.
  • CLPS 2.0. NASA may "order turn-key delivery services or start accepting delivery of CLPS hardware for integration into its own missions". "The final CLPS 2.0 request for proposal was released on May 15, with responses due on Tuesday, June 30."
  • MoonFall ("Moonfall update"): "four drones to fly short hops on the lunar surface as they survey potential landing sites for Artemis astronauts". JPL "has selected Firefly Aerospace to build the spacecraft that will transport the drones from Earth orbit to the Moon. Launch is targeted for 2028." After each drone's last flight, "its survive-the-night payload will continue to operate for several months".
  • More to come ("More robotic missions to come"): additional CLPS 1.0 task awards "issued during the agency's Ignition event" are "forthcoming", and more CLPS 1.0 and 2.0 task orders will follow "as Phase 1 technology demonstrations are defined and planned for Moon Base missions".

What it doesn't say

  • Which Artemis mission is the "first crewed Moon Base mission" of the Users Guide (open question 9). Moon Base I reduces risk for "crewed Artemis landing missions in 2028" without naming one.
  • Any ADD element, function or gap.

Missions and assets · Lunar Terrain Vehicle · CLPS · Ignition page (the LTV and CX-2 notices) · Moon Base update, Aug 2026