The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) has revealed SpaceX, Blue Origin and six other aerospace companies are eligible to compete for lunar delivery contracts with a combined potential value of up to $10 billion as the agency advances plans to establish a permanent base on the Moon.
NASA outlined the next phase of its Commercial Lunar Payload Services (CLPS) initiative, establishing a $10 billion spending ceiling over the next decade.
This development follows NASA’s May announcement of plans to establish a permanent human outpost on the moon by 2032.
The announcement was made Saturday at the MAX POWER aerospace expo and air show at Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida. The expansion brings together private companies to deliver scientific equipment, technology and infrastructure to the lunar south pole.
NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman said the moon’s infrastructure will be built “mission by mission.”
“We are building the Moon Base mission by mission,” Isaacman declared. “Today’s announcements expand nearly every part of that campaign, using the playbook that carried NASA through its greatest eras: fly often, learn, apply those lessons, and get more better and more capable with every 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.”
NASA’s Program Executive for Moon Base Carlos García-Galán remarked that the program had made “incredible strides” toward completing the “near impossible.”
“In the eight months since Ignition, we’ve made incredible strides in accomplishing the near impossible: establishing a permanent outpost on the lunar surface,” said García-Galán. “We’ve consolidated numerous efforts into a streamlined program, evolving our human exploration architecture into an iterative and sustained campaign for Moon Base technology development and implementation. Most importantly, we’ve taken action, awarding new contracts and forging new partnerships to accelerate development.”
The multi-billion-dollar cap represents a maximum limit for future task orders rather than direct funding awarded upfront. As part of the initiative’s next phase, the agency has selected eight commercial partners to compete for upcoming moon delivery contracts.
