The agency just unveiled new lunar missions, a nuclear-powered rover and $10 billion in contracts to build a moon base for astronauts.
NASA just wrapped up its Max Power event, the agency’s first-ever aerospace technology expo that took place Wednesday through Sunday at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Featuring discussions, panels, announcements and technology demonstrations, the biggest part of the event was NASA’s update on the Ignition initiative, which promises to put a base on the moon by 2032.
The Moon Base Program is an expensive endeavor that requires the help of various space companies to complete on time. Max Power discussed the various technologies and projects to make a base work, including the new CLPS 2 contract, a nuclear-powered moon rover and other lunar architecture.
NASA will rely heavily on commercial aerospace companies for many of these components: Blue Origin, Firefly Aerospace, Intuitive Machines, Lockheed Martin, Northrop Grumman, SpaceX, Voyager Technologies and ispace-US. Most of those companies have also been supplying tech for the Artemis program, which is slated to launch its third mission in 2027 and send people back to the moon in 2028. While the Artemis missions are important in their own right, NASA is also using them as a precursor to the Moon Base. That’s one of many reasons why it was a huge deal when Blue Origin’s New Glenn rocket exploded in May.
“We are building the moon base mission by mission,” NASA administrator Jared Isaacman said during Max Power .
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