Blue Origin Reveals Off Its MK1 Lunar Lander—and It’s Manner Greater Than Apollo’s

Driving the excessive of its show-stopping New Glenn flight earlier this month, Blue Origin is now aiming even larger—toward the Moon. Now, the corporate’s lunar ambitions appear extra tangible than ever with the revealing of the Blue Moon Mark 1 (MK1) lunar lander.

In an X publish on Friday, Blue Origin proprietor and founder Jeff Bezos shared a primary have a look at MK1. This 26-foot-tall (8-meter-tall) cargo lander is anticipated to embark on its first mission in the course of the first quarter of 2026, touching down close to the Shackleton crater on the Moon’s south pole.

Making an attempt this feat throughout the subsequent 4 months will probably be excessive danger, excessive reward for Blue Origin. If Blue can pull off an uncrewed lunar touchdown earlier than SpaceX, it may give the corporate a strategic advantage as NASA reevaluates lander suppliers for Artemis 3. However the tight timeline and sophisticated {hardware} will current quite a few challenges.

The Blue Moon MK1 flight automobile that can land close to Shackleton crater. We’ll quickly be doing absolutely built-in checkout checks. At over 26 toes tall (8 meters), it’s smaller than our MK2 human lander however bigger than the historic Apollo lander. pic.twitter.com/N8V8vqOYaV

— Jeff Bezos (@JeffBezos) November 21, 2025

Bezos’s large lander

Based on Bezos, MK1 is smaller than Blue Origin’s human lander, MK2, however bigger than NASA’s Apollo lander. This single-launch spacecraft is designed to launch aboard New Glenn and ferry as much as 3.3 tons (3 metric tons) of payload to the lunar floor.

The Blue Moon Pathfinder mission will exhibit and validate the lander’s {hardware} and methods. This contains its never-before-flown BE-7 engine, cryogenic fluid energy and propulsion methods, avionics, steady downlink communications, and precision touchdown.

MK1 may even be carrying a NASA payload referred to as SCALPSS (Stereo Cameras for Lunar Plume Floor Research). This array of cameras will accumulate imagery throughout and after MK1’s descent, gathering crucial information to help future Moon landings and enhance NASA’s understanding of how they have an effect on the lunar floor.

MK1 is the biggest industrial cargo lander ever constructed, able to carrying much more payload than any of NASA’s Business Lunar Payload Companies (CLPS) landers. MK1’s top may put it at better danger of toppling over throughout its touchdown try, particularly if its crucial touchdown precision and management methods don’t carry out as anticipated.

Blue Origin will quickly conduct “absolutely built-in checkout checks” of MK1, in line with Bezos. This refers to floor checks that can consider efficiency for all of the lander’s methods and {hardware} to make sure that it’s prepared for flight.

This might assist Blue anticipate and deal with points throughout MK1’s deployment and touchdown try, however as a result of it can’t absolutely replicate the lunar surroundings, unexpected challenges may nonetheless come up.

Crunch time

Blue Origin’s objective of launching Blue Moon Pathfinder earlier than the top of Q1 may be very bold. Attaining an uncrewed lunar touchdown is a crucial milestone that Blue ought to not rush, as guaranteeing mission success would require meticulous testing and validation of all methods.

Nonetheless, the timing seems to be proper for a number of causes. New Glenn achieved each single considered one of its mission targets throughout its second check flight on November 13, indicating that it’s able to launch a lunar touchdown mission. MK1’s growth seems to be on monitor, and in idea, it could possibly be able to launch throughout the subsequent a number of months—although floor testing may lead to delays.

Maybe the largest motivator, nonetheless, is the Artemis 3 carrot dangling in entrance of Bezos’s face. NASA initially tapped SpaceX to construct the Human Touchdown System (HLS) that can ship the Artemis 3 astronauts to the Moon in mid-2027, however important delays prompted the company to reopen the contract in October.

Blue Origin has since stepped as much as the plate. NASA Press Secretary Bethany Stevens beforehand instructed Gizmodo that the company is evaluating plans from each SpaceX and Blue Origin for acceleration of Artemis 3 lander manufacturing. SpaceX detailed its plans to simplify the HLS architecture in late October, however leaked internal documents counsel the corporate nonetheless received’t be prepared for an Artemis 3 launch till September 2028.

If NASA decides to go along with Blue as an alternative, it will be the corporate’s MK2 lander that will carry the Artemis 3 crew to the floor of the Moon. Demonstrating an uncrewed lunar touchdown with MK1 is a crucial step towards the deployment of MK2, as these two landers share a lot of the identical methods and {hardware}.

Hitting this milestone throughout the subsequent 4 months would definitely give Blue a aggressive edge, as SpaceX is nowhere near a lunar touchdown. Nonetheless, Bezos ought to not let ambition get in the best way of the Pathfinder mission’s success—particularly with a NASA payload onboard. Failure may set the corporate’s lunar program again years.