The aggressive effort by NASA administrator Jared Isaacman to rationalize and speed up the agency’s Artemis program to get back to the Moon and build a base there has resulted in a plethora of new missions, almost all of which are being built by the private sector.

Today Isaacman and his Moon Base program manager, Carlos García-Galán, held a press conference where they announced four more missions.

• Astrobotic won a $297.9 million contract to build and fly two more of its smaller Peregrine lunar landers. This lander attempted a landing in 2024, but a fuel leak right after launch made that impossible.
• Firefly won a $144.2 million contract to build and fly another Blue Ghost lander, the only commercial lander to successfully achieve a lunar soft landing, in 2025.
• Intuitive Machines won a $148.3 million contract to build and fly another Nova-C lander. This lander attempted two landings, and in both cases it tipped over just after launch. The Nova-D design, under development, has a lower center of gravity, but for reasons not well explained by García-Galán NASA chose to go with the Nova-C design.

The precise launch date and lunar landing location for each lander is as yet undisclosed, though all are considered part of the first phase of the Artemis program, which suggests a target launch in 2028.

In addition, NASA is considering using back-up equipment developed to build the Curiosity and Perseverance Mars rovers to create quickly and relatively inexpensively a lunar rover that they have dubbed “Promise.”

In order to make some sense of this program and these many misssions, I have created below a chronological list of confirmed missions, with their present status indicated (including uncertainties), as well as some unconfirmed missions based on my own speculations. All dates are tentative at this point, even if NASA has provided us a specific target date.

Several things to note as you review this list. While there are handful of missions going elsewhere, Isaacman is attempting to focus the program toward landing at the planned lunar base near the south pole, and to do so as fast as possible in the most effective way. The cargo missions and rovers are to get there ahead of the manned missions, in order to provide the astronauts supplies and surface transportation once they arrive. Those same missions will also do some preliminary scouting, and likely carry power and excavation equpiment needed to build the base.

It is also important to note that this plan is still in its very early stages of development. Many of the rockets and spacecraft and landers needed for these missions are not yet operational. Many have not yet demonstrated the capability to do what is requested. Thus, the program will certainly not follow the plan as presently outlined by the agency. Moreover, there will be failures along the way.

The program however is designed to accelerate development, to accept those failures within the program’s larger scope. If one mission fails, others are on the table to fly quickly to overcome the loss. And since the program is relying on the entire aerospace industry, the agency will have great redundancy from many companies.

I welcome comments and suggested changes or corrections. I fully intend to publish this list repeatedly over the coming years as the Artemis program evolves. And as the private sector begins flying its own missions to the Moon, independent of NASA, I intend to include those as well.

• Late 2026:
• 4th quarter: Moon Base 1 (likely delayed): Blue Origin’s Blue Moon Mark-1 (dubbed Endurance) unmanned lunar lander demo flight, to be launched on Blue Origin’s New Glenn rocket. Delayed due to the grounding of New Glenn following the May 28, 2026 static fire test explosion. Landing: South pole region.
• 4th quarter: Moon Base 2: The Griffin lander, built by Astrobotic (now acquired by Voyager), will be launched on SpaceX’s Falcon Heavy rocket, and targeting the south pole region, Mons Mouton.
• 4th quarter: Moon Base 3: Intuitive Machine’s Trinity (Nova-C) lunar lander, will be launched by SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket and targeting the Reiner Gamma region near the equator.
• 4th quarter: Firefly’s Blue Ghost mission 2, to be launched by SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket, and targeting the far side of the Moon.
• 2027:
1st quarter: Demo unmanned mission of Blue Origin’s Blue Moon Mark-2 manned lander: Likely delayed due to the grounding of New Glenn following the May 28, 2026 static fire test explosion. Landing: South pole region.
• 4th quarter: Artemis 3: Manned rendezvous and docking tests of Orion in Earth orbit with the manned lunar landers being built by SpaceX and Blue Origin. It remains to be seen if either will be ready.
• 2028:
• 1st quarter: Blue Origin unmanned Blue Moon Mark-1 delivering the first of two lunar rovers to the south pole.
• 1st quarter?: Starship unmanned demo mission of human landing spacecraft, to south pole region.
• 1st quarter?: Blue Moon unmanned demo mission of human landing spacecraft to south pole region.
• 1st quarter?: Starship unmanned cargo mission to south pole region.
• 2nd quarter: Artemis-4: A manned lunar landing, with Orion launched by SLS and either SpaceX’s Starship launched by Superheavy or Blue Origin’s Blue Moon launched by New Glenn. Targeting south pole region.
• 3rd quarter: Blue Origin unmanned Blue Moon Mark-1 delivering the second of two lunar rovers to the south pole.
• 4th quarter: Artemis-5: A manned lunar landing, with Orion launched by SLS and SpaceX’s Starship launched by Superheavy or Blue Origin’s Blue Moon launched by New Glenn. Targeting south pole region.
• Date and specific mission as yet undetermined: Astrobotic Peregrine lander
• Date and specific mission as yet undetermined: Astrobotic Peregrine lander
• Date and specific mission as yet undetermined: Firefly Blue Ghost lander
• Date and specific mission as yet undetermined: Intuitive Machines Nova-C lander
• Date and specific mission as yet undetermined: Reconfiguration of a Mars rover equipment to be a lunar rover, dubbed Promise.
• Ispace’s unmanned lander, funded by Japan’s Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry
• 2029:
• Intuitive Machines Nova-C lander, launched on a Falcon 9 and targeting the south pole near Mons Mouton.
• Intuitive Machines first Nova-D lander, launch provider not yet determined, targeting the south pole region.
• Ispace’s unmanned Ultra lander, funded by Japan’s Space Strategy Fund
• Possible missions:
• Cargo mission(s?) using Superheavy/Starship?
• Cargo mission(s?) using New Glenn/Blue Moon?
• Multiple unmanned robot mission(s?)?
• Manned mission(s?) using Superheavy/Starship?
• Manned mission(s?) using New Glenn/Blue Moon?
• 2030 and beyond:
• Ispace/Draper unmanned lander, funded by NASA, targeting Schrodinger basin on Moon’s far side.
• Possible missions:
• Cargo mission(s?) using Superheavy/Starship?
• Cargo mission(s?) using New Glenn/Blue Moon?
• Multiple unmanned robot mission(s?)?
• Manned mission(s?) using Superheavy/Starship?
• Manned mission(s?) using New Glenn/Blue Moon?