Science & Tech · Space · 14 hrs ago
NASA opens up to $10 billion in lunar delivery contracts to eight companies
NASA named eight companies eligible to compete for lunar delivery contracts as it advances plans for a permanent Moon base.
The companies include SpaceX, Blue Origin and six other aerospace firms, and the work would support missions to the Moon’s south pole.
The contract framework has a $10 billion ceiling over 10 years, but that is not money already awarded to the companies.
NASA also raised the maximum value of its existing lunar delivery contract from $2.6 billion to $4.2 billion to support early Moon base plans.
Blue Origin separately won a $94 million base contract to deliver a NASA rover designed to study the lunar surface and underground, including areas that may contain water ice.
NASA is targeting a late-2028 launch for the rover’s 18-month mission, using Blue Origin’s Mark 1 lander.
The missions are intended to build knowledge and infrastructure for a sustained human presence on the Moon.
NASA said eight companies can compete for up to $10 billion in lunar delivery contracts over 10 years.
The framework will support deliveries of scientific equipment, technology and infrastructure to the Moon’s south pole.
The $10 billion is a ceiling for future task orders, not money already awarded to the companies.
NASA also increased the maximum value of its existing Commercial Lunar Payload Services contract from $2.6 billion to $4.2 billion.
Separately, Blue Origin received a contract to deliver NASA’s nuclear-powered rover to the lunar south pole, with a launch targeted for late 2028.
- Who
- NASA and eight selected companies: SpaceX, Blue Origin, Firefly Aerospace, Intuitive Machines, iSpace US, Lockheed Martin Space, Northrop Grumman Space Systems and Voyager Technologies.
- What
- The companies are eligible to compete for up to $10 billion in lunar delivery contracts over 10 years.
- When
- NASA announced the framework on Saturday; the article was published on November 8, 2026.
- Where
- The announcement was made at the MAX POWER aerospace expo and air show at Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The deliveries will support missions to the Moon, including its south pole.
- Why
- To deliver equipment, technology and infrastructure as NASA advances plans for a permanent Moon base.
This story does not have two clearly opposing sides.
NASA announced that eight companies are eligible to compete for up to $10 billion in lunar delivery contracts.
NASA is targeting a launch of Blue Origin’s delivery of the PROMISE rover.
SpaceX is due to deploy communications satellites in a separate demonstration under an existing lunar logistics contract.
- Contract ceiling
- Up to $10 billion over 10 years
- Selected companies
- Eight, including SpaceX and Blue Origin
- Existing CLPS contract
- Maximum value increased from $2.6 billion to $4.2 billion
- PROMISE rover base contract
- $94 million, with another $140 million available through a performance-based option
- Rover mission
- 18 months
- Transportation task orders
- Six worth approximately $1.3 billion combined
What people are saying
We are building the Moon Base mission by mission
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.