NASA commissions Jeff Bezos to take the first step to build its lunar base

BarcelonaNASA plans to send an uncrewed Blue Origin spacecraft to the Moon between September and November to begin laying the groundwork for a future lunar base, followed by two similar missions scheduled before the end of 2026. The spacecraft chosen for the first mission is the Blue Origin Mark One Endurance lander, designed by Jeff Bezos's space company, the founder of Amazon, as explained at a press conference in Washington by NASA administrator Jared Isaacman.

Moon Base One will be the first landing spacecraft mission to be privately funded in history. The spacecraft will head to the rim of Shackleton crater at the Moon's south pole. Isaacman explained that, in addition to carrying two NASA scientific payloads, the mission's goal is to "demonstrate critical capabilities that reduce risk for Human Landing System missions."

The second launch is scheduled for the end of the year and will send a terrestrial satellite on a spacecraft designed by the American company Astrobotic Technology. It will transport over 500 kilograms of cargo to the lunar surface, including a rover, a space exploration vehicle. In contrast, the third spacecraft will be handled by Intuitive Machines and will have the mission of investigating the origins of the Moon's magnetic anomalies.

The three uncrewed launches are part of the initial phase of the lunar base construction, which involves transporting over four tons of cargo material to the Moon spread across 25 launches and 21 landings by 2029. Last March, NASA announced an ambitious plan to build a base at the Moon's south pole in the coming years, an area with permanently shadowed regions that allow for the presence of ice, which will facilitate the constant stay of astronauts on its surface.