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Bloomberg • Loren Grush

NASA selects Blue Origin and Firefly for first lunar base-construction missions; awards $75M JPL Moonwalk/Farside-south-pole dro

NASA said it is launching three uncrewed lunar missions this year to kickstart a phased, ~$20bn Moon-base plan before decade-end. The agency chose Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin for the first mission and selected Firefly Aerospace for a $75M JPL subcontract to deliver four drones to the lunar south pole by 2028.

2026-05-26T12:54:36.648420-07:00

European Spaceflight

Redwire delivers Argonaut lunar lander robotic arm prototype as ESA launches €68M call

2026-05-25T04:14:20.210142-07:00

SpaceNews.com

Isaacman: NASA expects China to fly a crewed lunar-orbit mission in 2027, escalating competition for cislunar presence

2026-05-20T02:40:49.949952-07:00

Payload

NASA ranks lunar technology pain points and maps FY26 space-tech funding to civil shortfalls and Ignition

2026-05-21T16:40:51.212228-07:00

News Timeline

Bloomberg

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NASA selects Blue Origin and Firefly for first lunar base-construction missions; awards $75M JPL Moonwalk/Farside-south-pole dro NASA said it is launching three uncrewed lunar missions this year to kickstart a phased, ~$20bn Moon-base plan before decade-end. The agency chose Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin for the first mission and selected Firefly Aerospace for a $75M JPL subcontract to deliver four drones to the lunar south pole by 2028.

2026-05-26T12:54:36.648420-07:00

NASA selects Blue Origin and Firefly for first lunar base-construction missions; awards $75M JPL Moonwalk/Farside-south-pole dro

European Spaceflight

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Redwire delivers Argonaut lunar lander robotic arm prototype as ESA launches €68M call Redwire has delivered a robotic arm prototype to the European Space Agency (ESA) as the agency opens a €68 million procurement for a similar system for its Argonaut lunar lander. The development underscores Redwire’s continued role in lunar surface autonomy hardware heading into ESA’s next phase.

2026-05-25T04:14:20.210142-07:00

Redwire delivers Argonaut lunar lander robotic arm prototype as ESA launches €68M call

Space.com

NASA to brief May 26 on updated Artemis Moon-base plan NASA will provide a live update on Tuesday afternoon, May 26, on its plans to build a Moon base as part of Artemis. The briefing is expected to clarify how the agency’s latest architecture and sequencing translate into an actionable surface-infrastructure approach.

2026-05-22T06:10:46.675064-07:00

NASA to brief May 26 on updated Artemis Moon-base plan

Payload

NASA ranks lunar technology pain points and maps FY26 space-tech funding to civil shortfalls and Ignition NASA gathered stakeholder input to identify the technical challenges causing the biggest “headaches” for space technology—and then translated that feedback into 40 space-technology focus areas for FY26. The roadmap is shaped by civil space capability shortfalls and NASA’s new Ignition initiative to prioritize near-term investment bets.

2026-05-21T16:40:51.212228-07:00

NASA ranks lunar technology pain points and maps FY26 space-tech funding to civil shortfalls and Ignition

Space.com

Lunar Outpost stakes its moon-base strategy on the Pegasus lunar rover—shifting infrastructure buildout toward commercial surfac Lunar Outpost frames itself as a lunar infrastructure company, arguing that the moon-base buildout won’t be delivered by astronauts alone. Its new Pegasus lunar rover is positioned as an early proof point for scalable, recurring surface capability as robotic operations become central to base construction and logistics.

2026-05-21T08:13:00.269990-07:00

Lunar Outpost stakes its moon-base strategy on the Pegasus lunar rover—shifting infrastructure buildout toward commercial surfac

Space.com

Researchers map a fuel-saving Earth-to-Moon trajectory using advanced computer modeling An international research team reports identifying a “hidden” Earth-to-Moon route that reduces propellant needs, based on advanced computer modeling of cislunar transfer dynamics. The work points to more fuel-efficient trajectory design that could lower mission cost and expand feasible payload and mission profiles for lunar operations.

2026-05-20T13:11:59.045672-07:00

Researchers map a fuel-saving Earth-to-Moon trajectory using advanced computer modeling

SpaceNews.com

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Isaacman: NASA expects China to fly a crewed lunar-orbit mission in 2027, escalating competition for cislunar presence NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman said he expects China’s taikonauts to fly around the Moon in 2027, framing it as an imminent step in Beijing’s crewed lunar ambitions. The forecast heightens perceptions of an accelerated U.S.-China “space race” as Artemis operations progress.

2026-05-20T02:40:49.949952-07:00

Isaacman: NASA expects China to fly a crewed lunar-orbit mission in 2027, escalating competition for cislunar presence

SpaceWatch Global

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Lonestar signs NASA Space Act Agreement to pursue space-based lunar data storage, resilient off-world compute and next-gen comms Lonestar has signed a NASA Space Act Agreement establishing a framework for collaboration aimed at space-based data storage tied to lunar operations, resilient off-world compute infrastructure, and next-generation space communications architectures. The pact formalizes cooperation focused on storing and processing data beyond Earth for cislunar/lunar mission needs.

2026-05-12T01:42:03.834529-07:00

Lonestar signs NASA Space Act Agreement to pursue space-based lunar data storage, resilient off-world compute and next-gen comms

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Moon News

NASA selects Blue Origin and Firefly for first lunar base-construction missions; awards $75M JPL Moonwalk/Farside-south-pole dro

Redwire delivers Argonaut lunar lander robotic arm prototype as ESA launches €68M call

Isaacman: NASA expects China to fly a crewed lunar-orbit mission in 2027, escalating competition for cislunar presence

NASA ranks lunar technology pain points and maps FY26 space-tech funding to civil shortfalls and Ignition

News Timeline