A moonbase is a human outpost on or beneath the surface of the Moon. More than a mere site of activity or temporary camp, moonbases are extraterrestrial bases, supporting robotic or human activity, by
Tranquility Base: (L to R) Astronaut Buzz Aldrin, scientific equipment, Apollo Lunar Module Eagle; US flag and television camera in back (photo by Neil Armstrong)
Apollo 12 astronaut Pete Conrad with Surveyor 3 and Apollo 12 Statio Cognitum lunar base with the Intrepid lander and S-band antenna in the background, in a first ever visit of a separate mission beyond Low Earth Orbit
Soviet stamp commemorating Luna 16 (1970), with its return stage separating from its lander.
NASA's 2026 presented plan for establishing a permanent lunar base
The Artemis program is a Moon exploration program led by the United States' National Aeronautics and Space Administration, aimed at returning humans to the Moon for the first time since the Apollo pro
Moonbase
…being proposed internationally. As of 2025, the two most advanced projects to set up moonbases have been pursued multilaterally as part of the U.S.-led Artemis program, with its planned Artemis Base Camp and as the China-led International Lunar Research Station. A broader, international infrastructure has been envisioned…
An artist's rendering of the lunar module (left) and Orion spacecraft envisioned during the Constellation program
The Orion capsule in the Pacific Ocean, following the Exploration Flight Test-1 mission
Orion capsule shortly after splashdown in the Pacific Ocean on December 11, 2022.
Official crew portrait, clockwise from left: Koch, Glover, Hansen and Wiseman