NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman announced a $20 billion plan to build a permanent U.S. base on the Moon over the next 7 years. NASA is cancelling plans to deploy a space station in lunar orbit.
“NASA is committed to achieving the near‑impossible once again, to return to the Moon before the end of President Trump’s term, build a Moon base, establish an enduring presence, and do the other things needed to ensure American leadership in space. The clock is running in this great‑power competition, and success or failure will be measured in months, not years. If we concentrate NASA’s extraordinary resources on the objectives of the National Space Policy, clear away needless obstacles that impede progress, and unleash the workforce and industrial might of our nation and partners, then returning to the Moon and building a base will seem pale in comparison to what we will be capable of accomplishing in the years ahead.”
Phase One: Build, Test, Learn
NASA shifts from bespoke, infrequent missions to a repeatable, modular approach. Through CLPS (Commercial Lunar Payload Services) deliveries and the LTV (Lunar Terrain Vehicle) program, the agency will increase the tempo of lunar activity, sending rovers, instruments, and technology demonstrations that advance mobility, power generation (including radioisotope heater units and radioisotope thermoelectric generators), communications, navigation, surface operations, and a wide range of scientific investigations.
Phase Two: Establish Early Infrastructure
With lessons from early missions in hand, NASA moves toward semi‑habitable infrastructure and regular logistics. This phase supports recurring astronaut operations on the surface and incorporates major international contributions, including JAXA’s (Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency) pressurized rover, and potentially other partner scientific payloads, rovers, and infrastructure/transportation capabilities.
Phase Three: Enable Long‑Duration Human Presence
As cargo‑capable human landing systems (HLS) come online, NASA will deliver heavier infrastructure needed for a continuous human foothold on the Moon, marking the transition from periodic expeditions to a permanent lunar base. This will include ASI’s (Italian Space Agency) Multi-purpose Habitats (MPH), CSA’s (Canadian Space Agency) Lunar Utility Vehicle, and opportun.
Robert Zubrin Criticized Gateway for Years
Zubrin (founder of the Mars Society and author of The Case for Mars) repeatedly called NASA’s planned Lunar Orbital Platform-Gateway (LOP-G aka Gateway) an unnecessary, expensive lunar orbital tollbooth. It added zero value for lunar surface missions or Mars prep. You don’t need an orbiting station to land on the Moon or depart for Mars. Direct Earth-to-surface (or Earth-orbit-to-surface) trajectories are simpler, require less propellant, and avoid complex rendezvous.
It imposed real penalties on every mission. The Near Rectilinear Halo Orbit (NRHO) forced extra delta-v (about 17 % more energy), added life-critical docking maneuvers, and created tight launch windows. Missing a rendezvous could strand crews.
It was a vendor-driven distraction, not a purpose-driven program. Gateway existed mainly to give the SLS rocket and Orion capsule something to do after the Obama-era Asteroid Redirect Mission was cancelled. It diverted $3+ billion per year and delayed actual boots-on-Moon by years.
Money and time would be far better spent on a surface base. Zubrin’s Moon Direct plan used commercial launchers + lunar landers to build a permanent base directly, leveraging in-situ resources (ice for propellant, regolith for shielding). A surface base is far more useful for science, resource utilization, and Mars analog testing than an orbiting “way station.”
Brian Wang is a Futurist Thought Leader and a popular Science blogger with 1 million readers per month. His blog Nextbigfuture.com is ranked #1 Science News Blog. It covers many disruptive technology and trends including Space, Robotics, Artificial Intelligence, Medicine, Anti-aging Biotechnology, and Nanotechnology.
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Seems way too cheap, given the $150 billion to build (and operate) the ISS, and that’s smaller and just in relatively low Earth orbit.
Apples and oranges.
120 billion of the cost of the ISS is accounting for the cost of the shuttle program to transport and assemble it.
Launch is orders of magnitude cheaper.
Also, a moon base doesn’t need to be supplied with re-boost propellant.
It’s amazing what a shift from a focus on pork and grift to results can do.