2026 the year promises to be significant for the study of the Moon. NASA plans to send humans into lunar orbit as part of a mission Artemis 2, and China is going to land a robotic device on the south pole of the Moon Chang’e 7 to find water ice. Provided that launch schedules are met and the devices are ready, such commercial missions are also planned to be launched this year, Blue Moon Mark 1 (Blue Origin), Blue Ghost M2 (Firefly), IM-3 (Intuitive Machines) and Griffin-1 (Astrobotic).
Jeff Bezos' company Blue Origin is going to make its first attempt to conquer the moon with the Blue Moon Mark demonstration vehicle 1. The robotic landing module should launch on a New Glenn rocket from Cape Canaveral already at the beginning of the year. The mission will include tests of precision landing systems and propulsion technologies, which in the future will ensure the delivery of commercial cargo and NASA cargo by mass up to 3 000 kg on the lunar surface. The module will take a course to the south pole of the Moon. NASA's SCALPSS payload will be on board, which will study, how engine exhaust interacts with the lunar terrain during landing. Blue Origin is NASA's prime contractor for the Human Landing System program (HLS). It is the Blue Moon spacecraft that should land astronauts on the moon at the end of this decade, therefore flight Mark 1 will be a key rehearsal.
Texas-based Firefly is preparing to send the Blue Ghost M2 mission to continue regular cargo delivery services to the Moon. The flight will take place within the framework of the NASA CLPS program (commercial services for delivery to the moon), but will also carry private and international cargo. The launch is planned on a SpaceX Falcon rocket 9 not earlier than the second quarter 2026 year. The goal of the mission is to land on the far side of the Moon, which so far only China has managed (Chang'e mission 4 in 2019 and Chang'e 6 in 2024). Among the six government and commercial cargoes will be the Emirati rover Rashid 2 and a wireless energy receiver for Volta Space. The mission will also launch the European Space Agency's Lunar Pathfinder into orbit using Firefly's Elytra orbital tug. Elytra will also act as a communications relay for the Blue Ghost M2, since direct communication with the far side of the Moon from Earth is impossible.
Intuitive Machines will attempt its third landing in the second half 2026 year with the IM-3 mission, given the errors of the previous IM-1 Odysseus machines (2024 r.) IM-2 Athena (2025 r.), which rolled over on their side shortly after touching the surface. The launch will take place on a Falcon rocket 9 from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The goal of the mission is to explore the Reiner Gamma region on the visible side. The module will be equipped with scientific instruments, in particular, magnetometers and plasma detectors.
After the crash of its first lunar module, Peregrine in 2024 year, Astrobotic returns with a larger Griffin-1 module, the launch of which is scheduled for the second half of the year on the Falcon Heavy rocket 2026 year. The mission is aimed at the South Pole. The device will deliver the four-wheeled 450-kilogram FLIP rover from Astrolab to the moon, as well as our own little CubeRover.
These missions will test technology and deliver scientific instruments, which will be the basis for future flights, in particular Artemis programs, and will also strengthen the commercial presence in space. The results will show whether private lunar modules are ready to move from the stage of experiments to routine work.
Source: https://www.space.com