YFARMX SPACE

YFarmX Space · Moon desk

Moon

The return to the lunar surface: landers, rovers, power and the programmes competing to build a permanent presence on the Moon.

The hardware

Model of a lunar lander

Lunar lander

Two stage crewed lander: gold blanket descent stage on four shock strut legs, pressure cabin and ladder above.

  • Gold-blanket descent stage: four tanks in the quadrants, a throttleable engine under the centre
  • Four splayed legs on telescoping shock struts, built as real struts, sleeves and ball joints
  • The ascent-stage cabin above: canted approach windows, thruster quads, a docking tunnel on the roof
  • The ladder down the forward leg is how a crew reaches the surface — and gets back off it
Class
Landers
Built scale
9.6 m across the footpads
Where the class lives
The lunar surface
Geometry
50,896 triangles, modelled as real parts

The class that has carried crew: Apollo's Lunar Module, six landings from 1969 to 1972. Its successors, SpaceX's Starship HLS and Blue Origin's Blue Moon MK2, are being built for NASA's Artemis programme. The model is the class, not any of them.

Moon desk →Missions desk →

Illustration · class archetype · real geometry

Missions on this desk · 3
The SLS rocket carrying Orion lifting off Pad 39B on Artemis I, restyled onto a dark starfield.

Artemis programme

development

NASA · Moon

NASA's return to the Moon. Artemis II flew a crewed lunar flyby in April 2026; Artemis III is now planned as a low Earth orbit lander demonstration in 2027.

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NASA's Artemis II mission launched on 1 April 2026 and returned on 10 April 2026, a crewed lunar flyby lasting 9 days, 1 hour and 32 minutes, the first crewed flight of NASA's deep space systems. NASA's own overview now describes a restructured plan: Artemis III, scheduled for 2027, becomes a low Earth orbit demonstration of one or both commercial landers, while Artemis IV carries the first crewed lunar landing, targeted for early 2028. Artemis V is expected by late 2028, with missions roughly annual thereafter.

Next: Artemis III, scheduled for 2027, a demonstration mission in low Earth orbit to test one or both commercial landers from SpaceX and Blue Origin

last verified 2026-08-07 · Image: NASA/Joel Kowsky, restyled

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Concept artwork of a robotic lunar lander with a small hopper craft beside it near the Moon's south pole, Earth low on the horizon.

Chang'e-7

development

CNSA (China National Space Administration) · Moon (south pole)

China's next lunar mission is in its launch campaign at Wenchang, rocket and probe together for final assembly and testing.

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China's next lunar mission, Chang'e-7, is in its launch campaign at the Wenchang spaceport. The programme's official site reports that the Long March-5 Y14 carrier rocket arrived safely at Wenchang on 13 July 2026 and will undergo final assembly and testing together with the Chang'e-7 probe, which was delivered earlier. All systems at the launch site are stated to be preparing for the mission according to plan; no launch date is given.

Next: Launch of Chang'e-7 from Wenchang; assembly and testing at the launch site are proceeding to plan (no launch date stated)

last verified 2026-08-07 · Illustration: YFarmX, generated concept artwork of the mission class, not the actual spacecraft

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Blue Ghost Mission 2's structural qualification model during shaker testing at JPL, restyled onto a dark starfield.

Blue Ghost Mission 2

development

Firefly Aerospace · Moon (far side)

Firefly's second lunar lander targets the first American landing on the Moon's far side, no earlier than late 2026, with ESA's relay satellite riding along.

More

Firefly Aerospace states Blue Ghost Mission 2 will launch no earlier than late 2026 on a Falcon 9, targeting America's first landing on the Moon's far side, near Nassau crater. The Blue Ghost lander carries six international payloads, including NASA's LuSEE-Night radio telescope and the UAE's Rashid Rover 2, while Firefly's Elytra orbiter deploys ESA's Lunar Pathfinder communications relay en route. The mission follows the first Blue Ghost, which completed the first fully successful commercial lunar landing in March 2025.

Next: Launch no earlier than late 2026 on a SpaceX Falcon 9

last verified 2026-08-08 · Image: NASA/JPL-Caltech, restyled

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