Moon News

Associated Press • Marcia Dunn

Artemis II astronauts return to Kennedy Space Center, reunite with Integrity capsule after record lunar flyby

NASA’s Artemis II crew—Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover and Christina Koch, alongside CSA’s Jeremy Hansen—has returned to the Kennedy Space Center in Florida for the first time since their historic, record-setting 10-day mission around the moon. The astronauts reunited with their capsule and the launch team more than three months after splashdown.

5 Sources

2026-07-08T12:45:37.348989-07:00

Bloomberg

NASA considers sending a test version of its Mars rover to the Moon to validate hardware reuse for a future lunar base

1 Source

2026-07-08T08:19:46.591417-07:00

Reuters

ispace launches lower-cost lunar cargo service with SpaceX Starship and its moon lander

4 Sources

2026-07-08T00:59:57.310429-07:00

Reuters

NASA ramps Artemis Moon Base delivery with ~$600M in new robotic lander contracts and considers sending Perseverance’s full-scal

43 Sources

2026-06-30T12:17:35.514226-07:00

Moon Exploration News Timeline

Associated Press

5 sources

Artemis II astronauts return to Kennedy Space Center, reunite with Integrity capsule after record lunar flyby NASA’s Artemis II crew—Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover and Christina Koch, alongside CSA’s Jeremy Hansen—has returned to the Kennedy Space Center in Florida for the first time since their historic, record-setting 10-day mission around the moon. The astronauts reunited with their capsule and the launch team more than three months after splashdown.

2026-07-08T12:45:37.348989-07:00

Artemis II astronauts return to Kennedy Space Center, reunite with Integrity capsule after record lunar flyby

Bloomberg

1 source

NASA considers sending a test version of its Mars rover to the Moon to validate hardware reuse for a future lunar base NASA is weighing a plan to fly a test version of its Mars rovers to the lunar surface as part of efforts to reuse existing hardware for a moon base. The proposal has drawn criticism from some stakeholders, raising questions about the approach and priorities for lunar exploration.

2026-07-08T08:19:46.591417-07:00

NASA considers sending a test version of its Mars rover to the Moon to validate hardware reuse for a future lunar base

Reuters

4 sources

ispace launches lower-cost lunar cargo service with SpaceX Starship and its moon lander Japanese lunar logistics provider ispace says it will begin a new, lower-cost lunar cargo business using SpaceX’s Starship Heavy rocket and a moon lander developed by SpaceX. The offering positions ispace to deliver a “ride-share” model for lunar shipments via Starship’s heavy-lift capacity.

2026-07-08T00:59:57.310429-07:00

ispace launches lower-cost lunar cargo service with SpaceX Starship and its moon lander

Space.com

1 source

Bridenstine challenges NASA’s Artemis commercial moon-lander designs, warning they could create long-term program risk Former NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine says aspects of NASA’s Artemis commercial moon lander designs are flawed and that the issues “are going to come back and bite us.” His critique centers on the design choices being made for the program’s lunar landings.

2026-07-07T08:17:05.925446-07:00

Bridenstine challenges NASA’s Artemis commercial moon-lander designs, warning they could create long-term program risk

SpaceNews.com

2 sources

Blue Origin presses on with Blue Moon lunar lander development amid ongoing New Glenn recovery after pad explosion Blue Origin says it is continuing development of its Blue Moon lunar landers while recovering from a New Glenn pad explosion that occurred more than a month earlier. The update frames near-term momentum on lunar hardware as the company works through the aftermath of the launch-site incident.

2026-07-06T13:28:52.400783-07:00

Blue Origin presses on with Blue Moon lunar lander development amid ongoing New Glenn recovery after pad explosion

Payload

1 source

Lunar Forge proposes using lunar regolith to build low-cost fission-reactor infrastructure on the Moon Lunar Forge says its concept is to cut the cost of establishing surface fission power by using lunar regolith to form most of the reactor support and shielding structure. The approach targets a major reduction in the infrastructure required to house and protect a reactor core using locally available materials.

2026-07-01T05:51:07.565753-07:00

Lunar Forge proposes using lunar regolith to build low-cost fission-reactor infrastructure on the Moon

AeroTime

20 sources

❗️

NASA awards Moon Base Phase One lander and lunar science delivery contracts, targeting monthly landings with updated lander desi NASA selected new commercial partners for its Moon Base Phase One effort, including multiple lunar lander contracts and prime roles for delivering NASA payloads. NASA also said vendors plan to fly updated versions of already-flown lander designs to support an agency goal of monthly lunar landings. The program adds to a near-$600M push across four lunar missions and includes Intuitive Machines’ prime lunar reconnaissance contracts and Blue Origin progress updates.

2026-07-01T03:44:59.807551-07:00

NASA awards Moon Base Phase One lander and lunar science delivery contracts, targeting monthly landings with updated lander desi

Reuters

43 sources

❗️

NASA ramps Artemis Moon Base delivery with ~$600M in new robotic lander contracts and considers sending Perseverance’s full-scal NASA has awarded multiple lunar landing and surface-delivery contracts tied to its Artemis Moon Base effort, selecting Astrobotic, Firefly Aerospace, and Intuitive Machines for lunar payload missions and awarding nearly $600 million across four robotic lander flights. NASA is also “seriously considering” sending Perseverance’s full-scale engineering model to the Moon and evaluating a potential nuclear-powered rover mission, PROMISE.

2026-06-30T12:17:35.514226-07:00

NASA ramps Artemis Moon Base delivery with ~$600M in new robotic lander contracts and considers sending Perseverance’s full-scal

Create a free account to see more recent Moon Exploration clusters.