Here's a look at all the lunar lander missions planned for 2026

• Four U.S. companies are targeting lunar landings in 2026, including Astrobotic, Blue Origin, Firefly Aerospace, and Intuitive Machines.
• The missions are part of NASA's Commercial Lunar Payload Services program.
• The landings will lay the groundwork for American astronauts to return to the moon for the first time since 1972 under NASA's Artemis program.

Before humans even step foot on the surface of the moon in the years ahead, a fleet of lunar landers are due to beat them there.

Already, three landers manufactured by two different Texas companies have made it to the moon since 2024. And in 2026 alone, another four uncrewed lunar spacecraft could touch down on different regions of Earth's only natural satellite.

Why all the sudden interest in the moon?

The missions would help lay the groundwork for American astronauts to return to the lunar surface for the first time in more than 50 years under NASA's Artemis program. In fact, the space agency is in the midst of preparing for a mission known as Artemis 2, which as early as April would send three Americans and one Canadian on a 10-day trip around the moon to set the stage for a 2028 landing.

In the years ahead, NASA has a bold vision of establishing a permanent lunar base from which the first astronauts could set out for Mars. And the slew of privately-managed lunar missions ahead, contracted under NASA's Commercial Lunar Payload Services program, are integral for making that happen.

Here's a look at four uncrewed U.S. lunar landing missions targeted for 2026.

Astrobotic Griffin-1

After a failed lunar landing attempt in January 2024, Pittsburgh-based aerospace company Astrobotic is aiming to try again.

The company's Griffin-1 mission is scheduled to deliver science and technology – including at least two rovers – to the lunar south pole following a 2026 launch.

The impending mission comes after Astrobotic's Peregrine lander fell short of its destination more than two years ago when it began leaking a "critical" amount of propellant – instead burning up in Earth's atmosphere shortly after launch.

Blue Origin Blue Moon Mark 1

Blue Origin, the spaceflight company founded by billionaire Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, has been developing its Blue Moon lunar lander for both cargo and crewed missions.

Launching atop Blue Origin's 322-foot New Glenn rocket, the Mark 1 variant of the lander, designed for cargo transport, could land on the lunar south pole in 2026 without a crew.

Blue Origin and billionaire Elon Musk's SpaceX are both under pressure to develop lunar landers ahead of a targeted human surface mission in 2028 now known as Artemis 4. NASA's revamped lunar program includes a new mission that involves Artemis 3 astronauts aboard an Orion capsule meeting and docking in 2027 in Earth orbit with one or both of those landers.

Firefly Aerospace Blue Ghost Mission 2

After pulling off a major uncrewed lunar landing in March 2025, Texas-based Firefly Aerospace is due for a repeat of sorts toward the end of 2026.

The spaceflight company's Blue Ghost lunar lander is scheduled to return later this year back to the far side of the moon facing away from Earth. The mission, known as Blue Ghost Mission 2, would come after the same design of lander first made it to the moon's far side to conduct surface operations for the equivalent of 14 Earth days to test the lunar environment for NASA.

This mission is "bigger and bolder," Firefly said on its website, revealing that it will carry payloads not just for NASA, but international commercial customers. And this time around, the lander will be atop Firefly's Elytra Dark vehicle, which will remain in lunar orbit for five years to image the moon.

Intuitive Machines IM-3

Intuitive Machines, an aerospace company based in Houston, made history in February 2024 when its spacecraft named Odysseus became the first commercially built lunar lander to ever make it to the moon. The lunar mission also marked the United States' return to the moon for the first time in more than five decades since NASA's Apollo era came to an end.

The company's Athena lander returned in March 2025 to the largely unexplored lunar south pole. But like its predecessor, the lander tipped over when it made it to the surface – significantly hampering the objectives it was able to complete before powering down.

Will the company's third lunar lander mission, known as IM-3, be the charm? For a landing targeted at the end of 2026 following a ride to orbit atop a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket, Intuitive Machines six-legged lunar lander is aiming to touch down amid a strange geographical anomaly on the moon known as a lunar swirl.

The goal is to deliver a suite of robots, sensors and other scientific experiments to a feature known as Reiner Gamma.

Eric Lagatta is the Space Connect reporter for the USA TODAY Network. Reach him at [email protected]