Introducing MoonFall, NASA’s Lunar Drone Mission

NASA’s MoonFall mission will blaze a path for future Artemis missions by sending four highly mobile drones to survey the lunar surface around the Moon’s South Pole ahead of astronauts’ arrival there.

MoonFall is built on the legacy of NASA’s Ingenuity Mars Helicopter. The drones will be launched together and released during descent to the surface. They will land and operate independently over the course of a lunar day (14 Earth days) and will be able to explore hard-to-reach areas, including permanently shadowed regions (PSRs), surveying terrain with high-definition optical cameras and other potential instruments.

Each vehicle will be capable of several propulsive flights, covering up to 50 kilometers (31 miles) total.

The mission was announced as part of the agency’s “Ignition” event on March 24, 2026. Learn more at https://www.nasa.gov/news-release/nasa-unveils-initiatives-to-achieve-americas-national-space-policy/

Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech