Moon News

NASA Spaceflight

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NASA details Artemis progress across commercial lunar landers, surface habitats and SLS/Orion hardware

NASA’s latest Artemis updates span commercial robotic lunar landers, technology demonstrations for future surface habitats, and hardware development for the Space Launch System and Orion spacecraft. The agency’s progress report provides a cross-program view of preparations for Artemis III and subsequent missions to the Moon.

SpaceNews.com

NASA, ESA and partners develop infrastructure for a viable lunar base

NASA and the European Space Agency are defining the infrastructure needed to support a sustainable lunar base, while Northrop Grumman and the Canadian Space Agency are adapting work from NASA’s planned Gateway station for future lunar-base applications.

SpaceNews.com

Northrop Grumman and Canada Repurpose Lunar Gateway Work for Planned Moon Base

Space.com

SpaceX plans robotic factories on the Moon, Elon Musk says

SpaceX plans to build factories on the Moon, with robots handling much of the heavy lifting, Elon Musk said during the company’s first-ever quarterly earnings call on Aug. 4. The comments outline a longer-term lunar industrialization concept, but provide no further detail on timing, scope or execution.

SpaceNews.com

Three companies are developing technologies to grow crops on the moon

As the U.S. prioritizes returning humans to the moon, commercial space companies are turning to a downstream challenge: producing food in lunar environments. Three firms are developing technologies intended to grow crops on the moon, addressing a critical requirement for sustained human presence beyond Earth.

SpaceWatch Global

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NASA selects Lunar Outpost to advance Starweave autonomous robotic swarm software

NASA selected Lunar Outpost’s proposal to advance Starweave, an autonomous robotic swarm software platform, under the agency’s Announcement of Collaboration Opportunity. The effort adds to NASA’s work on coordinated robotic systems for future lunar operations, though the announcement provides no details on funding, schedule or mission assignment.

SpaceNews.com

NASA and SpaceX study safeguards after Falcon 9 upper stage targets the moon

With a Falcon 9 upper stage expected to impact the moon this week, NASA and SpaceX are examining ways to prevent similar lunar collisions in the future. The effort highlights the need to account for spent launch hardware beyond Earth orbit and during deep-space missions.

Space.com

Europa’s buried ocean may preserve clues to habitability and potential life

New research indicates that Jupiter’s moon Europa may contain signs of life or habitability within its buried ocean. The findings could help future missions interpret what they discover and refine where they search for evidence of biological activity beneath the moon’s icy surface.