NASA names eight firms for Moon cargo under a $10 billion ceiling

NASA has named eight companies that can compete for lunar cargo flights under a new master contract with a combined maximum of $10 billion. The agency announced the awards on Saturday.

The ceiling is not money already spent. The Commercial Lunar Payload Services 2 deal is a 10-year master contract for future task orders. NASA also raised the earlier contract from $2.6 billion to $4.2 billion. That earlier deal stays in place through November 2028, and awarded deliveries can continue through November 2033.

Eight companies can compete for landings. Blue Origin, Firefly Aerospace, Intuitive Machines, iSpace US, Lockheed Martin Space, Northrop Grumman Space Systems, SpaceX, and Voyager Technologies can compete for surface deliveries. They would manage, build, and operate the landers. The release does not assign a landing to any of them yet.

A nuclear rover has its own delivery award. NASA is proceeding with PROMISE, a six-wheeled rover for the Moon's South Pole, to map the ground and look for resources. The Jet Propulsion Laboratory will manage the mission and build the rover from spare and test hardware from its Mars rovers. NASA is targeting a late 2028 launch and an 18-month mission. Blue Origin's base award to deliver it is $94 million, with an option worth an additional $140 million if performance terms are met. The company is to use its Mark 1 lander.

Six launch task orders are worth about $1.3 billion combined. Arrow Science and Technology, Blue Origin, and Impulse Space will integrate and transport cargo under the Venture-Class Acquisition of Dedicated and Rideshare contract. Some missions are planned on New Glenn, Terran R, and Falcon 9. In-space transport is to come from Blue Origin, Firefly Aerospace, Impulse Space, and Quantum Space.

A Starship demonstration is set for 2028. NASA selected SpaceX to launch communications satellites on Starship in 2028, into the region between Earth and the Moon. The release does not state a dollar figure for that task order. Administrator Jared Isaacman said, "When our astronauts return to the Moon, they will arrive with the first elements of the Moon Base already waiting for them on the surface." Moon Base Program manager Carlos García-Galán said the agency has "taken action, awarding new contracts and forging new partnerships to accelerate development."

Tower work is expected within months. NASA expects work on a small power and communications tower to begin within months. A separate request for integrated power systems is anticipated in early 2027.