NASA has laid out further plans to build a permanent base on the Moon, with work on early habitation beginning in 2029.
A three-stage project detailed by the space agency would then see “sustained human presence” from 2032 onwards, with “routine crew rotations and continuous surface activity.”
NASA has long sought a dedicated space base on the Moon as a permanent outpost for scientific experimentation, as well as a staging ground for further exploration throughout the solar system. Now, aligned with the agency’s Artemis program, more details on when each stage of the process will be ready have been discussed — even if the timeline seems optimistic.
Phase 1, lasting until 2029, is set to comprise up to 25 launches to the Moon — including some that are crewed. NASA’s current timeline for its crewed Artemis program is that another lunar flyby will take place next year, before an actual lunar touchdown occurs in 2028. After this, NASA has said it wants annual crewed lunar exploration missions, in order to develop that permanent base.
This phase will also see the development of rovers, drones and satellites to support the base, and demonstrations of how the base will be powered. A key mission here will be the VIPER rover, which will explore the Moon’s South Pole to search for water ice and other valuable resources.
Phase 2 will last from 2029 to 2032, and see humans testing a pressurized lunar rover vehicle, as well as establishing solar and nuclear power capabilities. After this point, NASA says it will be ready to declare sustained human presence in Phase 3, from 2032 onwards, with the construction of habitats and the beginning of uncrewed cargo return missions.
“Eventually when we have matched the assets — the habitation modules — with the logistics, and all the things to move the logisitics around, we’ll be able to say ‘we’re permanently here and we’re not giving it up’,” NASA’s Moon Base program executive Carlos García-Galán said in a press briefing.
But while the timeline here sounds exciting, NASA has faced continued delays to its Artemis program over the past decade. Just two years ago, NASA was still suggesting it could land humans on the Moon as soon as this year — something that is now still two years away at least. While progress has been made, NASA faces further waits for various technologies to be developed and SpaceX’s Starship Human Landing System to be ready. Meanwhile, China is persuing its own lunar program, with an aim to also land humans on the Moon this decade.
Image credit: NASA.
Tom Phillips is IGN’s News Editor. You can reach Tom at tom_phillips@ign.com or find him on Bluesky @tomphillipseg.bsky.social