NASA Awards $627 Million in Lunar Rover Contracts to Blue Origin, Astrolab, Lunar Outpost

NASA awarded contracts worth $627 million on May 26, 2026, to Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin, Astrolab, and Lunar Outpost to develop and deliver robotic rovers for its Artemis lunar program. Astrolab received $219 million and Lunar Outpost $220 million to build lunar terrain vehicles. Blue Origin secured a $188 million contract to transport the rovers to the moon’s surface using its uncrewed Mark 1 cargo lander. The awards support NASA’s Artemis program, which aims to establish a permanent moon base and enable deep-space exploration. The agency’s second Artemis mission launched in April 2026, sending four astronauts around the moon — a precursor to the first crewed lunar landing since 1972. NASA also selected Firefly Aerospace to build a spacecraft for the 2028 MoonFall mission to carry drones from Earth orbit to the moon.