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NASA Unveils Initiatives to Achieve America's National Space Policy

Page: NASA news release RELEASE26-025 by Lauren E. Low, NASA Headquarters, 24 March 2026 (last updated 2 April 2026). https://www.nasa.gov/news-release/nasa-unveils-initiatives-to-achieve-americas-national-space-policy/. Fetched 2026-10-01T18:39:07Z. File: sources/moon-base/nasa-gov-news-release-nasa-unveils-initiatives-to-achieve-americas-national-space-policy.md. The Ignition page links it first.

Summary. NASA's announcement of the Ignition event: the Moon Base in three phases, a pause of Gateway "in its current form", crewed landings every six months after Artemis V, up to 30 CLPS landings from 2027, a new LEO strategy, and SR-1 Freedom. It is the earliest source the wiki holds that describes the Moon Base phases, and it names them differently from the phases page. It also names two partner assets for Phase Three, ASI's Multi-purpose Habitats and CSA's Lunar Utility Vehicle, which no other source read places in a phase.

Key points

  • The phases ("Building the Moon Base"): "NASA's plan for establishing a sustained lunar presence will roll out in three deliberate phases."
Phase Name in this release What the release says
One "Build, Test, Learn" "NASA shifts from bespoke, infrequent missions to a repeatable, modular approach." CLPS deliveries and the LTV program will send "rovers, instruments, and technology demonstrations that advance mobility, power generation (including radioisotope heater units and radioisotope thermoelectric generators), communications, navigation, surface operations, and a wide range of scientific investigations".
Two "Establish Early Infrastructure" "semi‑habitable infrastructure and regular logistics", "recurring astronaut operations on the surface", "major international contributions, including JAXA's … pressurized rover, and potentially other partner scientific payloads, rovers, and infrastructure/transportation capabilities".
Three "Enable Long‑Duration Human Presence" "As cargo‑capable human landing systems (HLS) come online, NASA will deliver heavier infrastructure needed for a continuous human foothold on the Moon, marking the transition from periodic expeditions to a permanent lunar base. 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."

The release gives no dates for the phases. The phases page and the encyclopedia entry use other names; the Users Guide's phase graphic prints none (Users Guide, p. 4). See Phases and open question 76.

  • Artemis ("Going back to the Moon"): the earlier Artemis update included "standardizing the SLS … rocket configuration, adding an additional mission in 2027, and undertaking at least one surface landing every year thereafter". Artemis III, "scheduled for 2027", will test "integrated systems and operational capabilities in Earth orbit in advance of the Artemis IV lunar landing". "Looking beyond Artemis V", NASA will use "more commercially procured and reusable hardware", "initially targeting landings every six months".
  • Gateway ("Going back to the Moon"): "the agency intends to pause Gateway in its current form and shift focus to infrastructure that enables sustained surface operations. Despite challenges with some existing hardware, the agency will repurpose applicable equipment and leverage international partner commitments". See Gateway.
  • Kshatriya's framing: "On the Moon, we are shifting to a focused, phased architecture that builds capability landing by landing, incrementally, and in alignment with our industrial and international partners."
  • CLPS cadence ("Advancing world-changing discovery …"): "With an accelerated CLPS cadence, targeting up to 30 robotic landings starting in 2027". Payloads may include "rovers, hoppers, and drones". Near-term payloads: "the VIPER rover and the LuSEE‑Night mission". The payloads RFI also solicits payloads for "future missions to Mars including the Mars Telecom Network (MTN) and a nuclear technology demonstration mission".
  • SR-1 Freedom ("America underway on nuclear power in space"): "the first nuclear powered interplanetary spacecraft, to Mars before the end of 2028, demonstrating advanced nuclear electric propulsion in deep space". At Mars it deploys "the Skyfall payload of Ingenuity‑class helicopters". It will "activate the industrial base for future fission power systems across propulsion, surface, and long‑duration missions". Related page: Mars-forward, which has the Users Guide's description of SR-1 Freedom, this line and the nuclear fact sheet's.
  • LEO ("Ensuring American presence in low Earth orbit"): an added option of "a government‑owned Core Module that attaches to the space station, followed by commercial modules" that later "detach into free flight". Related page: RT-8, "Changes since Rev C".
  • Workforce: converting "thousands of contractor positions to civil service", and embedding "subject‑matter experts across the supply chain".

What it doesn't say

  • No launch, landing or mass numbers per phase (the Users Guide has them) and no phase dates.
  • No reference to the ADD, its elements or its gaps. Matching the partner assets to ADD elements is not done here: CSA's "Lunar Utility Vehicle" is not the ADD's Lunar Utility Rover, whose implementing program is NASA's EVA and Human Surface Mobility Program (ADD Rev C, p. 61), and nothing ties ASI's Multi-purpose Habitats to the Initial Surface Habitat.

Ignition page · Phases · Missions and assets · Gateway · Going back to the Moon · RT-1 International Collaboration