TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - NASA has unveiled plans to build a manned moon base. The program, named Artemis, is projected to cover hundreds of square miles in the south pole region of the moon. The base, to be built in a decade, will be equipped with the MoonFall hopping drone and next-generation lunar rovers.
"Different assets all building up to the objective of permanent lunar presence on the moon," said NASA's Moon Base program manager, Carlos Garcia-Galan, in a press conference quoted from Space, on Tuesday, May 26, 2026.
According to Space, NASA has chosen the region of the moon's south pole, where a large amount of water ice is believed to be stored. The water ice is thought to be located in permanently shadowed craters. The space agency mentioned that the base area will be very large because various facilities will need to be placed in different locations according to operational needs and terrain conditions.
"There's no one spot that covers all the science, all the technology, all the habitation needs of the surface, and even within the local area, you have to consider the terrain," said NASA's Moon Base Program Architect, Nujoud Merancy.
Merancy explained that astronauts will inhabit hilltops that receive sunlight. However, nuclear power systems must be located farther away to protect against radiation. "So, you'll have the habitats on the tops of the hills where they get sunlight," she said. Merancy also mentioned that power and nuclear systems need to be at least 1 kilometer away from the habitat for radiation protection.
To support the initial exploration, NASA will send the MoonFall drone, a small robot capable of mapping the moon's south pole region before the base's groundbreaking. The first batch, consisting of three to four vehicles, is scheduled to launch in 2028, using a lander built by the space technology entity, Firefly Aerospace.
"We're going to be able to basically put them at the corners of the areas where we think we have either key scientific objectives or we want to build up the moon base," Garcia-Galan said when asked about the drone's function to mark base areas.
In this project, NASA has also awarded development contracts for a lunar terrain vehicle (LTV) to Astrolab and Lunar Outpost. The Artemis astronauts will use the vehicle to explore the lunar surface. The rover is designed to operate autonomously and can be controlled from Earth before the manned mission deadline.
NASA Administrator, Jared Isaacman, stated that the construction of the moon base will be carried out in three phases. The stages include data collection, securing access to the lunar surface, and deploying semi-permanent crews beginning in 2032.
"The Moon Base will be America's and humanity's first outpost on another celestial world," said Isaacman.
He ensured that every NASA mission, whether manned or unmanned, would be a learning opportunity. This means that each mission will contribute to developing infrastructure for living on the moon.
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