Blue Origin is one step closer to having lunar lander ready for launch

Eric Lagatta, USA TODAY

Updated Tue, April 28, 2026 at 1:19 PM UTC

4 min read

Blue Origin is getting closer and closer to having its lunar lander ready for an uncrewed mission to the surface of the moon.

Billionaire Jeff Bezos' space technology company has been putting its Blue Moon spacecraft through its paces at testing facilities in both Texas and Florida. Ahead? a robotic landing on the moon's south pole potentially by the end of 2026.

The venture would come potentially in the same year as the historic Artemis II mission sending four astronauts around the moon.

Before astronauts can return to the moon's surface , Blue Origin and billionaire Elon Musk 's rival SpaceX are both competing to have separate landers ready in time for NASA's Artemis III mission in 2027. That mission itself would be a critical test of each lander's docking capabilities in Earth orbit before the space agency puts boots back on the lunar surface the following year.

The Artemis II mission launches April 1 from the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida. The four-person crew aboard the Orion spacecraft hitched a ride to orbit atop NASA's giant 322-foot Space Launch System rocket. Launching atop 8.8 million pounds of thrust, the SLS is the most powerful rocket NASA ever launched, about 17% more powerful than the iconic Saturn V rocket used during the Apollo era.

Artemis II Commander Reid Wiseman of NASA took this stunning photograph of Earth from the Orion spacecraft's window on April 2. The image is reminiscent of the iconic "blue marble" image captured during the Apollo 17 mission in 1972.

NASA astronaut Christina Koch, a mission specialist on Artemis II, gazes out the windows of the Orion vehicle back at Earth as she and the crew head toward the moon. Koch, who already holds several NASA records from her first spaceflight in 2019 to the International Space Station, became the first woman to fly on a lunar mission.

Before going to sleep April 5, the Artemis II crew snapped one more photo of the moon, as it drew close in the window of the Orion spacecraft. Shortly after, the astronauts entered the lunar sphere of influence, where the pull of the moon's gravity became stronger than Earth's.

The crew of Artemis II captured a breathtaking image of a celestial event known as an "Earthset," in which the Earth dropped below the lunar horizon. The image is reminiscent of the iconic "Earthrise" photo that NASA astronaut Bill Anders captured in 1968 during the Apollo 8 mission that showed our planet rising on the lunar horizon.

Of the impact craters, ancient lava flows and other lunar features the Artemis II astronauts observed during an April 6 flyby, a crater known as the Orientale basin was perhaps the most prominent. Spanning nearly 600 miles, the 3.8 billion year old crater (seen in the upper center of this photo) had never been seen with the naked eye prior to the mission.

The Orion spacecraft the Artemis II astronauts were aboard is captured in the same frame as both the moon and Earth in this photo captured about four hours into the historic April 6 flyby.

This image shows the moon fully eclipsing the sun from the vantage of the Orion spacecraft, not unlike what millions of people witnessed in April 2024 from Earth. From the crew’s perspective, the moon appeared large enough to completely block the sun, creating nearly 54 minutes of totality and revealing our star's elusive outermost layer, known as the corona.

The crew members of Artemis II embrace following the historic lunar flyby April 6, during which the astronauts flew farther from Earth than anyone in human history while seeing sights of the moon's far side never seen in person.

The Artemis II crew captured this breathtaking photo of our galaxy, the Milky Way. Spanning more than 100,000 light-years, Earth is located along one of the galaxy’s spiral arms, about halfway from the center.

10 days, 10 photos. Here are the most stunning images from Artemis II

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The Artemis II mission launches April 1 from the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida. The four-person crew aboard the Orion spacecraft hitched a ride to orbit atop NASA's giant 322-foot Space Launch System rocket. Launching atop 8.8 million pounds of thrust, the SLS is the most powerful rocket NASA ever launched, about 17% more powerful than the iconic Saturn V rocket used during the Apollo era.

Here's everything to know about Blue Origin's lunar lander and how close it is to launching from Florida on the way to the moon.

Blue Origin readies lunar lander for 2026 launch to moon

A mockup of Blue Origin's Mark 1 (MK1) lunar lander on display inside the lobby of the company's Florida facility on Merritt Island near the Kennedy Space Center.

The Blue Moon spacecraft that Blue Origin is developing for lunar landings is undergoing its latest phase of testing as the company readies the vehicle in Florida for an uncrewed moon mission potentially in 2026.

Most recently, the lander – nicknamed Endurance – went through a demonstration Blue Origin referred to as modal testing.

"We used sensors to measure how our lunar lander will respond to launch conditions," Blue Origin explained in an April 27 post on Instagram .

Blue Origin also said in an April social media post that it was planning to test both the launch vehicle separation system and communications system for the lander before performing a wet dress rehearsal that involves fueling it with cryogenic propellant. The spacecraft recently returned to Blue Origin's facility near NASA's Kennedy Space Center for more prep work after undergoing testing at the Johnson Space Center in Houston.

Does Jeff Bezos own Blue Origin?

Billionaire Jeff Bezos, best known for founding Amazon, founded the private space technology company Blue Origin in 2000.

Headquartered in Washington state, Blue Origin made a name for itself with its suborbital human spaceflights using its New Shepard spacecraft from West Texas. Those missions, several of which featured celebrities like musician Katy Perry and actor William Shatner, have been paused for at least two years while Blue Origin focuses on its lunar program.

New Glenn rocket to launch lunar lander from Florida

Blue Origin has also developed a heavy-lift launch vehicle known as the New Glenn. The 320-foot rocket, which has launched three times from the Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida, would be the vehicle to carry Blue Origin's lunar lander to orbit.

The New Glenn rocket most recently got off the ground April 19 on a mission to deploy broadband network satellites for cellular broadband service provider AST SpaceMobile to space. While the rocket delivered the satellites to the wrong orbit, Blue Origin did manage to once again recover the first stage booster, which itself had been reused after a previous spaceflight in a major first.

A Blue Origin New Glenn rocket is prepared April 18 for launch at the Cape Canaveral Space Force Station for its third launch. The giant rocket carried the AST SpaceMobile’s BlueBird 7satellite into low Earth orbit.

A Blue Origin New Glenn rocket is prepared April 18 for launch at the Cape Canaveral Space Force Station for its third launch ever, and the first reusing a first stage booster. The giant rocket carried the AST SpaceMobile’s BlueBird 7satellite into low Earth orbit.

A Blue Origin New Glenn rocket lifts off April 19 from the Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida.

A Blue Origin New Glenn rocket lifts off April 19 from the Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida as spectators look on.

Blue Origin's New Glenn rocket thunders into the sky on its third launch since January 2025. The mission marked the first time that Jeff Bezos' spaceflight company reused a first stage booster, and the second time that same booster landed on a drone ship stationed in the Atlantic Ocean.

The contrail from a Blue Origin New Glenn rocket after it launched April 19 from the Cape Canaveral Space Force Station.

A Blue Origin New Glenn rocket lifts off April 19 from the Cape Canaveral Space Force Station.

Blue Origin launch its mammoth New Glenn rocket for the third time ever since its January 2025 debut. Shortly after liftoff, the rocket's first stage booster, which was also used on a previous spaceflight in November, landed on a barge in the Atlantic Ocean. It was be transported back to shore and prepared for another launch.

Blue Origin's New Glenn rocket sits at the launch pad April 18 at the Cape Canaveral Space Force Station ahead of its third launch.

A Blue Origin New Glenn rocket lifts off April 19 from the Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Cape Canaveral, Florida. It was the third launch of New Glenn, carrying the AST SpaceMobile’s BlueBird 7satellite into low Earth orbit.

Why is Blue Origin targeting uncrewed moon landing?

Blue Origin is preparing to send the uncrewed Mark 1 variant of its Blue Moon lander on a pathfinding mission to the moon's south pole region, where it would permanently remain.

The mission, one of potentially four robotic lunar landings targeted for 2026, comes as NASA plans to dramatically increase the number of uncrewed landers carrying cargo and science instruments to the moon. In 2027, the space agency is eyeing up to 30 more uncrewed landings.

The missions, contracted under NASA's Commercial Lunar Payload Services program, would all help pave the way for the first astronauts to step foot on the moon for the first time since 1972 under the Artemis campaign .

In this new image from the Artemis II crew, NASA explains that what is depicted is the "divide between night and day, known as the terminator, cutting across Earth."

William Anders, a NASA astronaut on the historic Apollo 8 mission around the moon, took the iconic “Earthrise” photo while in lunar orbit on Dec. 24, 1968.

The first photograph of the Earth taken by an astronaut standing on the lunar surface, taken during the Apollo 11 Moon landing in 1969.

One of the most well-known photographs of Earth, the "blue marble" image was taken by the crew of the final Apollo mission (Apollo 17) as the crew made its way to the moon in 1972.

Voyager 1's 1990 photo of Earth, widely referred to as the "pale blue dot," was taken at a distance of 3.7 billion miles from the sun, making it the first photo taken beyond all the planets in our solar system. This image was created in 2020 or the 30th anniversary of the iconic picture using modern image-processing software and techniques to revisit the well-known Voyager view.

Because the International Space Station orbits so close to Earth's atmosphere (about 250 miles high,) the outpost and the astronauts who have lived aboard it have been the source of plenty of spectacular photos of our planet for 25 years. This recent photo, taken April 6, 2026, shows auroras glowing over the Indian Ocean.

NASA astronaut Chris Williams is pictured outside the International Space Station during a March 18, 2026 spacewalk with Earth in the background.

The devastating Hurricane Milton, a Category 4 storm at the time of this photograph, is pictured Oct. 8, 2024 in the Gulf of Mexico (renamed the Gulf of America) off the coast of Yucatan Peninsula from the International Space Station as it orbited 257 miles above.

The Soyuz MS-27 crew spacecraft is pictured Sept. 14, 2025 docked to the International Space Station's Prichal module as the orbital outpost soared 257 miles above a gleaming blue Atlantic Ocean, north of the Dominican Republic.

On December 16, 1992, eight days after its encounter with Earth, the Galileo spacecraft looked back from a distance of about 3.9 million miles to capture this remarkable view of the moon in orbit about Earth.

In honor of Earth Day, see these photos of our planet from space

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The crew of Artemis II captured a breathtaking image of a celestial event known as an "Earthset," in which the Earth dropped below the lunar horizon. The image is reminiscent of the iconic "Earthrise" photo that NASA astronaut Bill Anders captured in 1968 during the Apollo 8 mission that showed our planet rising on the lunar horizon.

Blue Origin, SpaceX landers could take Artemis astronauts to moon

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

SpaceX, the commercial spaceflight company founded by Elon Musk , was originally awarded the contract to develop a configuration of its Starship vehicle , known as the Human Landing System, for the first Artemis mission to send astronauts to the surface. Blue Origin, though is also working on the Mark 2 version of its Blue Moon lander that is designed for astronauts.

Whichever lander ends up being selected for Artemis IV would rendezvous with NASA astronauts aboard an Orion vehicle in lunar orbit and then ferry them to the surface . After the astronauts conduct a moon walk and a series of scientific experiments , the lander would then transport them back up to Orion, which would make the journey back to Earth, according to NASA .

However, concerns have mounted that both Blue Origin's and SpaceX's lunar landers are behind schedule – especially after NASA’s Office of the Inspector General issued a dire report in March .

Eric Lagatta is the Space Connect reporter for the USA TODAY Network. Reach him at elagatta@usatodayco.com

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Jeff Bezos' Blue Origin readies lunar lander for 2026 moon mission

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