NASA unveils plan to build a ‘city on the moon’ in just six years

While it may seem like the stuff of science fiction, NASA has unveiled plans to build a city–sized moon base in just six years.

NASA administrator Jarred Isaacman announced on Tuesday that the first missions for the $20 billion outpost would start as early as this year.

Speaking at a press conference, Mr Isaacman called the project ‘one of the most ambitious engineering and exploration efforts in human history’.

‘America is returning to the moon,’ he said. ‘And this time, to stay.’

Mr Isaacman revealed a detailed roadmap for the lunar colony, outlining a three–stage timeline working towards establishing a permanent lunar colony by 2032.

Eventually, the base will include multiple buildings covering hundreds of square miles in ‘one of the most demanding and dangerous environments imaginable’.

Describing the endeavour to build a settlement in such inhospitable conditions, Isaacman said the Moon base would be ‘as beautiful as it is hostile’.

He added: ‘What we are embarking upon is extremely challenging. We know so little from what is a combined 80 hours of lunar astronaut EVA time across the Apollo missions half a century ago.’

The base would cover hundreds of square miles in an environment where temperatures can range from more than 480 degrees Fahrenheit to minus –1200 degrees

Stage one of the moon base timeline, dubbed the ‘Learn, Test, Build’ phase, will begin later this year and run until 2029. 

Over the next three years, NASA aims to oversee an increasing number of commercial lunar missions to scout potential landing areas and test new technology.

This new phase of lunar exploration will begin no earlier than this autumn as Jeff Bezos Blue Origin company launches the Blue Moon Mark 1 lander, Endurance.

The lander will touchdown near the moon’s South Pole on the rim of the Shackleton crater, delivering scientific equipment and testing its landing capabilities.

This will be followed in the later months of 2026 as NAS uses Astrobotic’s Griffin lander and Intuitive Machines’ Nova–C Trinity lander to send a rover built by Astrolab.

By the end of this first stage, NASA plans to use a fleet of MoonFall helicopter drones and uncrewed rovers to scout the South Pole region for water and other resources.

From 2029 to 2032, NASA will enter the next phase dubbed ‘Early Habitation’, sending the first human crews to live on the lunar surface.

This phase will see the delivery of up to 60 tons of cargo through as many as 24 landings, building out the nascent moon base’s basic infrastructure.

The base, which will be powered by nuclear and solar energy, is expected to cost more than $20million

The number of launches to the Moon would increase in phase three, from 2032, with the aim of establishing a continuous human presence on the Moon

NASA says this will also include the first nuclear power systems to provide a reliable energy source for the lunar outpost.

Astronauts may even be sent pressurised rovers, allowing them to work out of their space suits for up to 30 days while exploring the South Pole region.

Finally, in 2032, NASA will transition into the final ‘Sustained Human Presence’ phase, establishing a permanent base with routine crew rotations and established infrastructure.

Mr Isaacman said ‘We are moving with the competence and the purpose to accomplish the missions that only NASA is capable of achieving, and we are really just getting started.

‘People are looking up again, believing in big things again and paying attention as America returns to the moon again — and this time to stay,

NASA has been accelerating its lunar program – which is itself a stepping stone to the agency’s ultimate goal of sending crews to live on Mars.

The latest plans come a month after four astronauts on the Artemis II craft achieved record feats during their ten–day mission, notably travelling deeper into space than any human had gone before.

Dr Lori Glaze of NASA’s exploration systems development mission directorate said: ‘The incredible success of the Artemis II mission has taken NASA from proving what is possible to making the extraordinary routine.

The first mission, which will continue until 2028, involves more missions to the Moon and achieving ‘high–rate, reliable surface access’. There will be 21 landings as scientists conduct research and lay the groundwork for the base

The next mission this autumn will be privately funded by Amazon founder Jeff Bezos’s space company Blue Origin. It will focus on reducing the risk of lunar landing missions

In the second phase between 2029 and 2032, NASA would establish initial sites for the base and install infrastructure to allow longer astronaut stays

‘Moon base will be home base for our Artemis crew and will encompass long–duration stays, expanded robotic and human capabilities and an enduring presence on the lunar surface.’

‘With Moon Base, Artemis astronauts will stay longer, explore farther, and conduct the kinds of science that advance exploration itself, understanding how humans operate off–world, how we build infrastructure, and how we prepare for Mars.’

This comes after NASA unveiled a major restructuring of the agency’s organisational structure to ‘accelerate mission delivery’.

This includes a significant push towards using a wider range of commercial enterprises to provide rockers, landers, and probes for scientific missions. 

On Monday, Blue Origin won the first contract of the project to make lunar terrain vehicles in a deal worth $188 million, which could rise to $270 million. 

Isaacman stressed in the briefing that the goal of the moon base is to encourage a lunar economy as well as simultaneously conducting scientific research and working toward a Mars expedition, CBS News reported. 

‘For those waiting patiently, the grand return is close at hand and we will not slow down,’ he added. ‘We are really just getting started.’