NASA doubles down on moon plans with nearly $600M in private lander contracts

NASA awarded about $600 million to Astrobotic, Firefly Aerospace, and Intuitive Machines to develop upgraded lunar landers that will deliver science payloads to the Moon in late 2028, part of a broader push to establish a sustained presence there with a roughly $20 billion budget over seven years. The awards follow nearly $1 billion in funding for first uncrewed moon-base missions, and NASA plans monthly updates while soliciting additional science payloads. The agency also discussed adapting a Mars rover prototype, named Promise, for lunar testing, and Blue Origin’s setback may shift its timeline to next year.