NASA funds quartet of robotic lunar landers to advance Moon Base ambitions

NASA awarded about $590 million to Astrobotic Technology, Firefly Aerospace and Intuitive Machines to fly four robotic lunar lander missions in 2028, each carrying the same three payloads (SCALPSS, LETS and the Laser Retroreflector Array); Astrobotic will fly two Peregrine landers to the Gruithuisen Domes region, Firefly one Blue Ghost, and Intuitive Machines one Nova-C, with a potential later addition of PROMISE, a Mars rover–derived, RTG-powered lunar rover; the agency is also weighing logistics for Moon Base launches and has not ruled out Blue Origin’s launch options as Plan A remains to use New Glenn.