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NASA selected eight companies, including SpaceX and Blue Origin, to compete for lunar cargo missions under a 10-year framework worth up to USD 10 billion. The program will support the agency’s plan to build a sustained presence on the Moon.
The new Commercial Lunar Payload Services 2, or CLPS 2, contract is a multiple-award, indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity framework. Its combined maximum value is USD 10 billion over a decade, but NASA has not committed that amount upfront.
Instead, the eight selected firms will compete for individual task orders as NASA defines future lunar delivery needs. The companies will build, manage and operate landers that carry science instruments, technology demonstrations and infrastructure payloads to the lunar surface.
The selected companies are Blue Origin, Firefly Aerospace, Intuitive Machines, ispace-US, Lockheed Martin Space, Northrop Grumman Space Systems, SpaceX and Voyager Technologies. Their inclusion gives NASA a broader supplier base for robotic cargo missions through 2036.
NASA frames CLPS 2 as a key step in developing the cargo network required for its Moon Base initiative. The agency wants reliable commercial deliveries to move equipment and supplies to the Moon’s south pole, where it plans to establish long-duration operations.
The framework signals a shift from isolated science landings to a more regular commercial logistics system. NASA intends to use these deliveries to test technologies and prepare the ground for later human missions. NASA targets a late-2028 launch, followed by an 18-month mission on the lunar surface.
Blue Origin received a USD 94 million base contract to deliver NASA’s PROMISE rover to the lunar south pole. The agreement includes a performance-based option worth up to USD 140 million.
The PROMISE mission will survey the south pole and help NASA assess conditions for future infrastructure. It adds to Blue Origin’s growing role in NASA’s lunar transport plans.
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