NASA outlined the first phase of its Moon‑base plans on Tuesday and awarded contracts worth hundreds of millions of dollars to four U.S. companies. The agency’s plans describe the Moon base as a sprawling lunar outpost that will use rovers, hopping drones and resource‑extraction technology.

According to bluesky, NASA’s Pegasus Lunar Rover is intended for Moon‑base operations and the agency claims the base will cover “hundreds of square miles.” SCMP reported that Blue Origin will provide a pair of landers to deliver moon buggies to the lunar surface near the Moon’s south pole.

TASS reported that during phase one NASA will launch three uncrewed Moon‑Base missions and aims to create a lunar base by 2032. The Hindu reported that Artemis III will include a docking rehearsal in Earth orbit between NASA’s Orion capsule and lunar landers being developed by Blue Origin and SpaceX. Mashable reported that NASA will shelve its plan for a small lunar space station (Gateway) in favor of building a base directly on the Moon, that Northrop Grumman is working on HALO, the main central module of the now‑sidelined Gateway, and that Artemis IV, scheduled for 2028, will include a lunar landing.

ABC AU reported that NASA has plans for a permanent Moon base.