Moon Base: Frequently Asked Questions
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How will NASA build a Moon Base? Where will it be located? Explore answers to these questions and more as NASA works to establish an enduring human presence on the Moon. The post Moon Base: Frequently Asked Questions appeared first on NASA Science .
Moon Base Homepage About FAQs Elements Lunar Terrain Vehicle Pressurized Rover MoonFall CLPS Resources Media Resources Solicitations Learning Resources Moon Base FAQs How will NASA build a Moon Base? Where will it be located? Explore answers to these questions and more as NASA works to establish an enduring human presence on the Moon.
NASA is building the Moon Base because humanity has only begun to discover what the Moon can teach us and what we can accomplish there. Apollo proved that humans could reach the Moon, explore its surface, and return safely to Earth. It remains one of humanity’s greatest achievements, but those missions were brief and reached only a small part of the lunar surface. The Moon Base is the next great step: transforming brief expeditions into sustained lunar exploration. A robust foundation of power, communications, transportation, habitats, mobility, and scientific equipment will enable a scale of lunar exploration never before possible. Astronauts and robots will be able to remain on the surface longer, travel farther, and reach places that would be difficult to explore during a single mission. Near the lunar South Pole , some of the Moon’s most ancient terrain preserves a record of the early solar system, while water ice and other frozen materials may contain clues about how water and the building blocks of life were distributed across it. Together, these could help scientists investigate longstanding questions about the history of the Moon and Earth, the evolution of our solar system, and the conditions that made life possible. With more time, greater mobility, and reliable infrastructure, the Moon Base will put more of the Moon within reach than ever before. Building and operating humanity’s first lunar outpost will challenge us to solve extraordinarily difficult problems. In doing so, it will drive innovations that can benefit life on Earth and expand what is possible in space. It will strengthen American leadership in space, create new opportunities for industry, foster international collaborations, and inspire a new generation to believe that the seemingly impossible is within reach. The Moon Base will teach us how to live and work safely on another celestial body. The knowledge and experience gained there will open a new era of discovery on the Moon while preparing humanity for future journeys deeper into the solar system. The Moon Base is more than a destination. It is a foundation for what comes next.
NASA plans to build the Moon Base near the lunar South Pole , a region that offers unique opportunities for exploration, discovery, and a long-term human presence. This remote frontier may hold resources that could help support future explorers and preserve clues to the history of the Moon, Earth, and our solar system. NASA is carefully studying several promising areas within a region spanning hundreds of square miles near the lunar South Pole. Planning a Moon Base requires looking beyond any single site to consider where spacecraft can land safely and repeatedly, where infrastructure can operate effectively, and how astronauts and robotic systems can reach resources and areas of scientific interest. Key factors include lighting conditions, terrain, communications access, and each location’s ability to support long-term exploration as the Moon Base grows. As plans mature, NASA will continue working with industry and international partners to advance exploration goals responsibly and collaboratively.
The Moon Base will be built mission by mission, step by step, but NASA will not do it alone. The agency is bringing together the strengths of government, industry, academia, and international collaborators to develop, deliver, and operate the systems needed to support an enduring human presence on the Moon. Through its CLPS (Commercial Lunar Payload Services) initiative , NASA is partnering with American companies to deliver science, technology, and infrastructure to the Moon in support of Moon Base development. Other commercial and international collaborators will supply capabilities such as power, communications, transportation, mobility, and habitation. NASA will lead the overall architecture and integration of these contributions, ensuring that independently developed systems can work together safely and reliably. This collaborative approach will allow the Moon Base to draw on innovation from around the world and grow into a flexible, resilient outpost.
The Moon Base will not be built all at once. It will take shape through several phases beginning in 2026 and continuing into the 2030s and beyond. During Phase One, through 2029, robotic missions will explore the lunar South Pole region, test new technologies, and prepare for future operations. In Phase Two, from 2029 to 2032, NASA and its partners will begin deploying foundational infrastructure, including power, communications, transportation, and logistics capabilities. Phase Three, beginning in 2032, will bring together habitats and other critical systems to support an enduring human presence near the Moon’s South Pole. With each phase, the Moon Base will grow in scale and capability, enabling increasingly ambitious science, technology demonstrations, and exploration.
All crewed missions carry inherent risk, and NASA will build safety into every stage of Moon Base development and operations. Before launch, each asset will undergo rigorous design reviews, testing, certification, and flight-readiness assessments to verify that it can perform safely and reliably in the lunar environment. On the Moon, crew safety will depend on multiple layers of protection. Habitats, rovers, spacesuits, and life-support systems will be designed with redundancy, continuous monitoring, and the ability to detect and respond to failures. Safety measures will address radiation and space weather, extreme temperatures, lunar dust, medical emergencies, communications disruptions, and other hazards. Crews also will need reliable logistics, spare parts, maintenance capabilities, emergency supplies, and contingency plans for returning safely to Earth. NASA will prove these capabilities incrementally through robotic missions and progressively longer crewed stays, applying lessons from each mission to those that follow.
Maintaining the mission cadence needed to build the Moon Base will require close coordination between NASA and its partners to deliver payloads, rovers, satellites, habitats, and other infrastructure on an ambitious schedule. NASA recognizes the scale of this effort and is aligning its resources, workforce, and partnerships to support it. The NASA Ignition Day event in March 2026 provided the first demand signal for a high-frequency mission plan that will spur industry to invest in greater production capacity for critical Moon Base elements. That signal continues to be amplified through recent NASA bulk orders and multiple contract awards for launch vehicles, landers, and early technology demonstrations. Along with sustained funding, the agency will work closely with industry to address technical challenges, strengthen supply chains, and support the development of critical hardware. NASA will also leverage and augment its unique facilities and expertise to test and mature the systems needed for sustained lunar operations.
An enduring human presence will become possible when the systems needed to support astronauts on the Moon can operate together safely and reliably for extended periods. That includes dependable power, long-duration habitation and life support, routine crew and cargo transportation, communications and navigation, surface mobility, and a reliable logistics chain for the equipment and supplies necessary to sustain crews, maintain systems, and conduct science. These capabilities must also protect crews from radiation, extreme temperatures, lunar dust, and other hazards. NASA will build and prove this architecture step by step through increasingly complex missions and operations, ultimately transforming the Moon from a destination visited periodically into a place where crews can live and work for long durations.
NASA is a civilian space agency, and its work on and around the Moon, including the Moon Base, is focused on science, technology development, and expanding human knowledge. While NASA may collaborate with other federal agencies, including the Department of War, on areas such as technology development, communications, or launch infrastructure, those partnerships do not change the civilian nature of NASA’s mission. The Moon Base will strengthen American leadership in space while bringing nations together in pursuit of a shared future on the Moon. Through international partnerships, the United States is advancing cooperation, scientific discovery, and responsible, long-term lunar exploration for the benefit of all humanity. The Artemis Accords provide a practical set of principles to enhance the safety, transparency, coordination, and peaceful exploration of the Moon, Mars, and beyond. Following the National Space Policy initiatives announced on March 24, 2026, NASA’s international partners will have expanded opportunities to contribute to the Moon Base and deepen their participation in the broader Artemis program .
NASA is actively assessing sites for lunar landings and operations to ensure their responsible use and avoid operational conflicts. These efforts are guided by the principles of the Artemis Accords , which emphasize transparency, coordination, and the peaceful exploration of space. As activity near the lunar South Pole increases, NASA will continue working with international and commercial partners to share information, prevent interference, and support safe, sustainable operations that maximize scientific discovery and exploration.
The process for naming the Moon Base will be determined at a later date, and any naming process will be conducted in accordance with applicable laws.
Below are some of the upcoming missions that will support Artemis exploration and early Moon Base development. By gathering data, investigating the lunar environment, and testing new capabilities, these missions will help NASA and its collaborators learn more about the Moon, its history and evolution, and the broader story of our solar system, while also informing how we explore and operate on the lunar surface.
Blue Origin Blue Moon Mark 1 This CLPS delivery will carry NASA science to the Moon and demonstrate precision landing technologies.
CAPSTONE 02 NASA’s CAPSTONE 02 mission will study radiation around the Moon and demonstrate new technologies.
Firefly Blue Ghost Mission 2 This CLPS delivery will carry LuSEE-Night, a NASA-DOE pathfinder radio telescope, to the lunar far side.
Intuitive Machines IM-3 This CLPS delivery will carry NASA science investigations and technology to the Moon.
MoonFall NASA’s MoonFall drones will survey and characterize the lunar surface environment near the South Pole.
VIPER NASA’s VIPER rover will search for and map water ice and other frozen materials near the lunar South Pole.
Voyager Griffin Mission-1 This CLPS delivery will carry NASA science and technology to the Moon’s South Pole region.
Lunar Exploration Lunar Science Lunar Technology Moon to Mars Lunar Exploration The Moon is a 4.5-billion-year-old time capsule.
As Earth’s nearest planetary neighbor, the Moon has profound potential to be a source of new scientific advances. It is also the best place for us to test our deep space systems and operations in preparation for the first human mission to another planet: Mars.
Earthset captured through the Orion spacecraft window at 6:41 p.m. EDT, April 6, 2026, during the Artemis II crew’s flyby of the Moon. NASA Lunar Science The Moon holds clues to the evolution of Earth, the planets, and the Sun.
Every mission to the Moon is an opportunity for new discoveries. Studying the Moon can help scientists answer important questions about the history and evolution of the Moon, Earth, and our solar system.
Captured by the Artemis II crew, the heavily cratered terrain of the eastern edge of the South Pole-Aitken basin is seen with the shadowed terminator – the boundary between lunar day and night – at the top of the image. NASA Lunar Technology Discover the technologies NASA is advancing to support the next chapter of lunar exploration
Surface power. Autonomous robots. Lunar dust mitigation. These are just some of the technologies and capabilities NASA is advancing to support long-term exploration near the lunar South Pole.
The ISRU Pilot Excavator (IPEx) breadboard unit, also known as RASSOR, excavates simulated lunar soil during testing at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center. NASA/Frank Michaux Moon to Mars The Moon is not our final destination. It’s a proving ground.
The Moon Base will help NASA learn what it takes to live and work on another celestial body. The knowledge, technologies, and operational experience gained on the lunar surface will help prepare for future human missions to Mars.
This mosaic of Mars is a compilation of images captured by the Viking Orbiter 1. The center of the scene shows the entire Valles Marineris canyon system, over 3,000 km long and up to 8 km deep, extending from Noctis Labyrinthus, the arcuate system of graben to the west, to the chaotic terrain to the east. NASA Learn More and Get Involved Help Build the Moon Base NASA is partnering with commercial industry, academia, and innovators around the world to develop the technologies, infrastructure, and capabilities needed to establish an enduring human presence on the Moon.
The Lunar South Pole Region Discover what makes this region of the Moon such a compelling place for exploration, science, and future human activity.
Learning Resources Discover the wonders of the Moon and the future Moon Base with this collection of NASA learning resources.
Keep Exploring Discover More Topics From NASA Humans In Space
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