An illustration of a future moon base. © NASA
As part of its “Ignition” event, NASA announced major new plans to strengthen U.S. leadership in space and support President Donald J. Trump’s National Space Policy. These efforts aim to move faster while opening the door to major scientific breakthroughs.
NASA estimates the Moon base program will cost about $20 billion over seven years, and around $30 billion over the next decade. A large portion of this funding was originally planned for the Gateway program.
The new plans build on recent updates to the Artemis program. These include standardizing the Space Launch System rocket, adding a mission in 2027, and aiming for at least one Moon landing every year after that. Artemis III, planned for 2027, will test key systems in Earth orbit before the Artemis IV Moon landing.
After Artemis V, NASA plans to rely more on reusable and commercial hardware to make missions more frequent and affordable. The goal is to land astronauts on the Moon every six months, possibly even more often in the future.
To support long-term human presence, NASA will gradually build a lunar base. As part of this plan, the agency will pause the Gateway project in its current form and focus instead on systems that support staying on the Moon. Some existing hardware will still be reused, along with contributions from international partners.
Beyond the Moon, NASA is also taking a major step toward nuclear-powered space travel. The agency plans to launch Space Reactor‑1 Freedom to Mars before the end of 2028. This will be the first nuclear-powered spacecraft for interplanetary travel, testing advanced nuclear electric propulsion.
This technology could make deep-space missions more efficient and allow spacecraft to travel farther, even beyond Jupiter, where solar power is not effective.
In the coming days, NASA will release new requests for information and proposals to keep these ambitious plans moving forward.
“We’re just focusing on the main needle-moving objectives in line with the president’s national space policy,” he said. “Gateway isn’t canceled, but we get a lot of hardware that we’ve already invested in.”
Sen. Ted Cruz, the Texas Republican who chairs the Senate committee with oversight of NASA’s budget, endorsed the plan in a post to X.
“Space is not just symbolic. It is strategic,” he wrote. “A sustained lunar surface presence ensures America, not China, leads the next era of exploration. That is why my bipartisan NASA Authorization Act, which the Senate Commerce Committee approved this month, includes provisions that will support NASA in this effort to make an American moon base a reality. I look forward to continuing to work with NASA to maintain American superiority in space.”
…silly immature Sci-Fi stuff. Astronauts hauling dusty dirt around? Real ‘pilots’ here. Makes no sense at all. OK, go to the Moon if you want! Have fun-little gravity is the kiss of death for those who…………………………….!