If NASA successfully executes its bold vision, the entire fleet of lunar landers and rovers will soon be on the moon’s surface within just a few years.

NASA announced on Tuesday that it has entered yet another contract with a private space company for upcoming moon missions. This time, the lunar lander will transport scientific equipment to the moon’s surface by late 2028.

This announcement marks another step in NASA’s aggressive lunar flight program as it prepares to establish a permanent base on the moon. The various missions set to launch over the next two years aim to test technologies and explore key locations that will shape NASA’s moon construction initiative. Recently, NASA announced nearly $1 billion in funding for its initial unmanned missions aimed at building a moon base.

Recent updates indicate a clear commitment from NASA to establish a sustained presence on the moon, adhering to a tight timeline and heavily leveraging commercial partnerships.

“Our recent grants to commercial partners total nearly $600 million for additional lunar missions carrying scientific payloads, accelerating our efforts to build a sustainable presence on the moon, and enhancing our capabilities for future missions,” stated Rory Glaze, Associate Administrator for NASA’s Human Spaceflight Mission Directorate in a statement.

Isaacman mentioned on Tuesday that a test version of NASA’s Mars rover could potentially be repurposed for the moon’s surface.

“If you’re familiar with our Mars rovers Curiosity and Perseverance, there is another model,” he said, noting that the test unit is named Promise. “We are seriously considering sending Promise to the moon.”

The three companies newly contracted for lunar modules include Pennsylvania-based Astrobotic, already collaborating with NASA to develop a lander capable of transporting over 1,000 pounds of cargo and a lunar rover to the moon’s surface later this year, along with Texas-based Firefly Aerospace and Intuitive Machines.

NASA reported that the winning bids were $144.2 million for Firefly and $148.3 million for Intuitive Machines.

Astrobotic has received a fresh contract valued at $297.9 million to construct two additional landers for the 2028 mission, meaning NASA has invested over $600 million in lunar hardware research over the last six years.

Firefly has also been awarded $75 million from NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory to create four drones to scout locations of interest at the moon’s south pole.

No company is creating a lander from scratch. Instead, NASA indicates that modifications are being made to a spacecraft already flown into space.

Regarding the Promise rover at California’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Isaacman indicated that discussions are underway to dispatch a probe aimed at exploring the resources available at the moon’s south pole.

“We’ve made several modifications and equipped it with different instruments, making it a very capable vehicle for the lunar south pole,” Isaacman explained. “This will enable us to rapidly develop new projects.”

Isaacman also updated reports on Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin’s expected involvement. NASA had selected Blue Origin and Astrobotic for an unmanned mission to the moon this year; however, an explosion occurred during a recent engine test, damaging the launch pad and raising concerns about meeting NASA’s schedule.

As a result of Blue Origin’s setback, the Moon mission may be postponed until next year.

Astrobotic’s lander is expected to launch as early as this year, according to Carlos García-Galan, NASA’s lunar base program manager.

Isaacman noted that NASA plans to provide monthly updates on lunar missions and will soon solicit proposals for scientific and technological payloads for upcoming lunar expeditions. Potential experiments might focus on the Moon’s energy infrastructure and improve communication systems between the Earth and the Moon.