Updated

Ars Technica reported on November 11, 2026, that NASA is relying on a flexible procurement approach to move its lunar Moon Base program forward at an unprecedented pace. Senior officials held a lengthy news conference the weekend before, announcing lunar contract awards, new opportunities and mission decisions covering landers, nuclear-powered rovers, scouting drones, power generation, storage and communication satellites. Manager Carlos García-Galán said the agency was keeping industry on its toes, which he said was needed to meet the Moon Base timeline. The approach, which the outlet's source described as similar to a DARPA-style process, uses Broad Agency Announcements and a two-step process in which companies first submit short white papers and only later prepare full proposals. Mike Gold, a former NASA associate administrator now at Redwire Space, said NASA issued five lunar contract proposals in seven days and called the pace and procurement nature unprecedented. Ars Technica described the effort as a high-risk, high-reward bet that spreads work across major contractors and new startups, and said it is partly funded by repurposing money from the shuttered Lunar Gateway program, according to NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman.