An artist’s concept of Phase 3 of NASA’s moon base project, planned to take place from 2033 to 2036. [Credit: NASA]
Key Takeaways:
NASA is shifting its deep-space strategy, pausing the Lunar Gateway project to instead focus on establishing a permanent human base on the Moon's surface.
This new, three-phase plan requires a $30 billion investment over the next decade, aiming for sustained human presence and resource extraction capabilities by 2036.
The project will repurpose existing Gateway components, increase the cadence of crewed lunar missions to twice yearly by 2028, and rely heavily on commercial partners for delivering payloads and developing new lunar vehicles.
NASA is emphasizing accountability for commercial contractors and modifying programs like CLPS and LTV to support the aggressive timeline for building the lunar base and enabling future Mars missions.
Over the next decade, NASA plans to spend tens of billions of dollars on what one official called “humanity’s first deep-space outpost.”
NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman kicked off the space agency’s “Ignition” event Tuesday with the revelation that it will pause work on the Lunar Gateway space station, a sizable portion of which has already been built by contractors.
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Jack is a staff writer covering advanced air mobility, including everything from drones to unmanned aircraft systems to space travel—and a whole lot more. He spent close to two years reporting on drone delivery for FreightWaves, covering the biggest news and developments in the space and connecting with industry executives and experts. Jack is also a basketball aficionado, a frequent traveler and a lover of all things logistics.
