NASA Revises Artemis Lunar Landing Plans for SpaceX and Blue Origin

Key Takeaways

• NASA has replaced a common lunar rendezvous orbit with different routes for its two lander providers.
• Artemis III will test Orion with Blue Moon and Starship in Earth orbit before planned lunar landings.
• NASA will choose the first lunar landing provider by readiness under its realigned contracts.

NASA Revises the Artemis Lunar Landing Plans

NASA announced revised Artemis lunar landing plans on October 23, 2026, giving SpaceX and Blue Origin different routes for delivering astronauts to the Moon. SpaceX’s lander would meet Orion in Earth orbit and propel the joined spacecraft toward the Moon. Blue Origin would assemble its transportation hardware in Earth orbit, send its lander ahead, and meet Orion in lunar orbit. Both approaches replace the previously planned rendezvous in a near-rectilinear halo orbit.

The changes affect the sequence of launches, the spacecraft responsible for major propulsion maneuvers, and the location where astronauts transfer between vehicles. NASA continues to target a crewed lunar landing in 2028. The announcement describes development plans and contractual arrangements, rather than completed demonstrations of either transportation system.

The agency also clarified that neither provider has been assigned to a specific Artemis lunar landing mission under the realigned contracts. The original arrangements assigned SpaceX to Artemis III and IV and Blue Origin to Artemis V. Both companies will instead participate in the redefined Artemis III test mission in low Earth orbit, with NASA selecting the first lunar landing provider according to readiness. A second crewed landing opportunity is planned to follow.

This separates two decisions that had previously been closely associated: numbering an Artemis mission and assigning the company that would supply its lander. The updated approach gives NASA a choice between providers as their hardware progresses through testing. It also means that references to the original mission assignments no longer describe the operative plan.

The contracts were updated earlier in 2026. October 23 was the date NASA publicly explained these changes together with the revised operating concepts; it should not be treated as the date every underlying contract modification was signed.

Some elements remain common to both lunar missions. Four astronauts would launch aboard Orion on NASA’s Space Launch System, or SLS. Two would descend in the commercial lander, and two would remain aboard Orion. After the surface crew returned to orbit, all four would travel back to Earth in Orion. The commercial vehicle supplies the surface transportation portion of a larger mission, although Starship’s revised role also includes transporting Orion outward from Earth orbit.

Artemis III Begins With Blue Moon in Earth Orbit

NASA’s detailed Artemis III mission description sets out a planned 14-day flight in 2027. The assigned crew consists of NASA astronauts Randy Bresnik, Frank Rubio, and Andre Douglas, together with European Space Agency astronaut Luca Parmitano. They would fly Orion in low Earth orbit and work with test versions of both commercial landers.

The Blue Moon test vehicle would launch first. NASA describes a circular operating orbit approximately 273 miles above Earth and a spacecraft capable of remaining in orbit for up to 30 days. Orion would launch only after teams confirmed that the Blue Moon vehicle was healthy and ready for joint operations. The waiting period provides some flexibility between the separate launches without requiring astronauts to wait aboard Orion throughout the lander’s initial checkout.

After launch, Orion would perform a sequence of maneuvers using its service module. NASA plans a circular orbit approximately 345 miles above Earth for thermal stabilization before Orion gradually establishes the geometry needed to meet Blue Moon. The spacecraft do not simply fly toward each other along a straight line. Their orbital paths and timing must be adjusted so that they arrive close together with a sufficiently small relative velocity for the final approach.

The crew would use the first two days to check Orion’s systems and prepare for proximity operations. NASA would assess the combined performance of guidance software, communications equipment, flight-control systems, and procedures. Flight controllers from the participating organizations would also practice coordinating commands and decisions across the two vehicles.

Once docked, astronauts would spend approximately two days evaluating the Blue Moon test article. They would open the hatch, enter its cabin, and assess the controls, atmosphere, and life-support functions. Engineers would verify that the vehicle maintains the intended pressure and cabin environment.

This test article incorporates avionics, software, flight-control equipment, cabin technologies, and life-support functions intended for later lunar missions. Testing these together provides information that separate component tests cannot supply, including how crew procedures interact with the actual cabin and flight systems.

The Earth-orbit mission has a defined boundary. It would evaluate the Blue Moon vehicle’s operation with Orion and a crew, but it would not demonstrate a lunar descent or ascent. Those tasks belong to the provider’s separate uncrewed lunar demonstration and the subsequent certification process.

Orion Will Dock With a Starship Test Vehicle

After completing the Blue Moon activities, Orion would undock and reposition for the SpaceX portion of Artemis III. SpaceX plans to launch a Starship Version 3 test article from Florida later in the mission. NASA explains that the sequence reflects the Starship test vehicle’s shorter intended orbital lifetime compared with the Blue Moon test article.

Starship would enter an orbit approximately 206 nautical miles above Earth, with an added docking system at its forward end. Orion would approach and dock for a test expected to last up to two hours. Astronauts would remain inside Orion rather than entering Starship during this demonstration.

That difference in crew access reflects the objectives of the two tests. The Blue Moon campaign includes cabin and habitation evaluations. The Starship campaign concentrates on the behavior of the connected vehicles: their controllability, communications, integrated software, and the dynamics of docking and separation. It is not a planned occupied demonstration of Starship’s lunar crew cabin.

The connection geometry also differs. Orion would dock beside Blue Moon’s crew cabin, then connect its forward docking system to the port at Starship’s nose. These configurations produce different combined spacecraft arrangements, making the two tests useful for evaluating how Orion operates with each provider.

NASA and SpaceX have already conducted relevant ground work. In February 2024, NASA reported full-scale qualification testing of a Starship lander docking system based on the Dragon 2 design. Over 10 days at Johnson Space Center, the campaign covered more than 200 docking scenarios with different approach speeds and angles. The purpose was to compare physical hardware behavior with the computer models used to predict contact between spacecraft.

That historical test provides background for the flight demonstration, but its accompanying 2024 mission description has been superseded. At the time, NASA described Artemis III as a lunar landing mission. The October 2026 plan instead uses Artemis III to test the interfaces in Earth orbit.

After the Starship test, Orion could have up to five additional days for other objectives. These include docking-sensor evaluations, suit assessments, acoustic and thermal measurements, and human-factors work. The planned flight would end with reentry and splashdown in the Pacific Ocean off California, followed by recovery involving NASA and the United States Navy.

Starship Would Carry Orion Toward the Moon

The revised SpaceX lunar mission changes the lander’s responsibility before any astronaut descends to the surface. Starship Human Landing System, or HLS, would wait for Orion in Earth orbit. After rendezvous and docking, Starship would perform the translunar injection burn that starts the joined vehicles on their journey toward the Moon.

Translunar injection is a propulsion maneuver that changes a spacecraft’s trajectory from an Earth-orbiting path to one directed toward the Moon. It does not, by itself, complete lunar orbit insertion. NASA’s description states that the combined Starship and Orion stack would ultimately reach low lunar orbit, where the vehicles would separate for surface operations.

NASA is modifying Orion so that Starship can push it toward the Moon. This is a specific integration task created by the revised architecture. Orion must function as part of the connected assembly during propulsion, communications, navigation, and other joint operations, then continue its own mission after separation.

An engineering consequence is that docking serves more than the immediate purpose of bringing hatches together. The connection must support the intended combined flight configuration. The Artemis III docking exercise would supply relevant information about the connected vehicles, although its short Earth-orbit test is not described as a demonstration of the full translunar propulsion maneuver.

Starship would take two astronauts from low lunar orbit to the surface for several days. After ascent, it would return them to Orion for the journey home. The other two astronauts would remain in the orbiting spacecraft during the surface expedition.

NASA attributes two operational benefits to the revised low-orbit approach. It says the concept significantly reduces the amount of propellant Starship must aggregate in space and reduces the time required for astronauts departing the surface to meet Orion again. The announcement does not give a revised propellant total, tanker-flight count, or precise return duration.

Those missing quantities matter when comparing the new plan with older mission diagrams. A previous tanker estimate cannot automatically be carried into a different trajectory and spacecraft configuration. The agency has changed the transportation problem itself by moving the initial Orion rendezvous to Earth orbit and assigning Starship the outward propulsion role.

The revised plan retains orbital refueling as a central requirement. The reduction NASA describes concerns the amount needed for the mission, not the removal of the tanker and depot campaign. SpaceX must still demonstrate the propellant aggregation approach before a crewed lunar landing.

Orbital Propellant Aggregation Remains Part of SpaceX’s Plan

SpaceX’s operating concept separates delivery of the lander from delivery of much of its mission propellant. Tanker versions of Starship would launch into low Earth orbit and transfer propellant to a waiting depot vehicle. The depot would subsequently fuel the lunar lander.

Orbital refueling means moving propellant between spacecraft after launch. Aggregation describes the broader process of collecting supplies from multiple deliveries until enough is available for the intended mission. A depot provides the storage and transfer point between the arriving tankers and the vehicle that will leave Earth orbit.

The distinction is useful because demonstrating a transfer connection is only one part of the campaign. The operating sequence also includes launching the tankers, bringing them to the depot, managing the stored liquids, and transferring the required supply to HLS. The lander must then be ready to meet Orion before the combined mission departs.

NASA specifies cryogenic propellants, meaning liquids maintained at extremely low temperatures. Managing them involves more than connecting two tanks. Heat entering a tank can vaporize some liquid, and the liquid’s position in microgravity differs from its behavior in a tank resting on Earth. Pressure control, thermal management, and preparing transfer lines are relevant to obtaining a usable propellant supply.

NASA’s cryogenic-fluid research distinguishes transfers within a spacecraft from transfers between spacecraft. Its September 2024 portfolio report described a demonstration during Starship Flight 3 that moved several metric tons between tanks inside the same vehicle. That result addressed fluid-management questions, but it was not a tanker delivering propellant to a separate depot.

The October 2026 lunar plan explicitly requires SpaceX to demonstrate its aggregation approach during the uncrewed mission. This ties the required demonstration to the architecture that would support the astronauts, rather than treating any earlier movement of liquid as completion of the whole refueling task.

NASA also says aggregation in Earth orbit provides flexibility in the timing of the SLS crew launch. The sequence allows propellant preparation to occur before Orion joins the lander. Operationally, the relevant readiness condition is the availability of a fueled, functioning transportation system, not merely the successful launch of an individual tanker or lander.

New Space Economy’s discussion of Starship refueling similarly separates an initial transfer experiment from the repeated deliveries, storage, and final fueling required for a lunar transportation campaign. This distinction explains why both individual technology tests and a mission-scale demonstration appear in the development sequence.

Blue Moon Would Use Three Transfer Stages

Blue Origin’s accelerated 2028 concept takes a different approach to preparing the lunar vehicle. NASA says the company will defer propellant transfer and use three transfer stages to send its Blue Moon Mark 2 Alpha Lander to the Moon. The stages are based on existing Mark 1 and Mark 2 hardware.

The transfer stages would launch into low Earth orbit, followed by the Mark 2 lander. After docking, the assembled stack would depart toward the Moon. Each transfer stage would separate when its propellant was depleted, following the general operating principle of a multistage rocket.

Staging allows a vehicle to discard equipment that has completed its propulsion task. An expended stage no longer has to be accelerated through the rest of the journey. In Blue Origin’s revised concept, this principle is applied to hardware assembled in orbit rather than relying on the previously planned propellant-transfer operation for the accelerated landing mission.

The destination would be an elliptical polar orbit around the Moon. An elliptical orbit varies in altitude around its path, and a polar orbit passes over or near the polar regions. NASA identifies this orbit as the meeting location for Blue Moon and the crew’s Orion spacecraft.

Orion would travel to the Moon separately from the Blue Moon stack. After the spacecraft docked, two astronauts would transfer to the lander and descend near the lunar South Pole. They would return to Orion after completing the surface expedition.

NASA says this orbit reduces Blue Moon’s propellant requirements, supports faster returns from the surface, and makes better use of the performance available from SLS. The agency also describes multiple crew-launch opportunities for Orion to reach the lander. Its announcement does not specify the orbit’s detailed dimensions or the duration of each available launch period.

The provider must demonstrate the full mission profile without astronauts before the crewed landing. That demonstration includes the transfer-stage approach, making it directly relevant to the revised configuration. Blue Origin also plans to apply lessons from earlier robotic Mark 1 missions supporting NASA’s Moon Base program.

Deferring propellant transfer is a change to this accelerated mission concept. It should not be interpreted as a statement that Blue Origin has abandoned every future application of refueling. The October announcement establishes the proposed means of reaching the 2028 landing objective: assemble the stages and lander, depart Earth orbit, discard stages as their work ends, and meet Orion around the Moon.

Orion Remains the Crew’s Earth-Return Spacecraft

Both provider concepts retain Orion as the vehicle that brings the astronauts back to Earth. The lander takes two crew members down to the surface and returns them to an orbital meeting point. The full crew then travels home in Orion, preserving a separation between lunar landing equipment and the spacecraft designed for atmospheric reentry.

Orion consists of a crew module and a European Service Module, with connecting equipment between them. The crew module contains the pressurized living and working space. The service module supplies propulsion, electrical power, thermal control, and consumables needed by the astronauts.

NASA’s service-module reference describes supplies of water, oxygen, and nitrogen, together with solar arrays that generate electricity. The module also provides orbital maneuvering and attitude control, which means controlling the spacecraft’s orientation. These functions are directly relevant to Artemis III’s sequence of changing orbits, approaching landers, docking, and preparing for return.

The service module includes a main engine, eight auxiliary engines, and 24 reaction-control thrusters. These components have different roles in moving and orienting Orion. The existence of a propulsion system does not mean every possible lunar trajectory places the same demand on it; the selected orbit and distribution of propulsion work across the mission remain important.

New Space Economy’s Orion technical overview provides additional background on the division between the crew module, flight-control equipment, life support, and service-module propulsion. For the revised mission, the consequential distinction is between Orion’s continuing independent functions and the additional period during which Starship would propel the connected vehicles.

The European contribution remains embedded in this arrangement. NASA describes service-module assembly at Airbus facilities in Bremen, Germany, using components supplied from Europe and the United States. The completed module is sent to Kennedy Space Center for integration with Orion.

SLS retains the crew-launch role in both concepts. The revised SpaceX mission does not call for astronauts to launch from Earth aboard the lunar Starship. Instead, the crew launches on SLS in Orion and meets the previously prepared lander in orbit.

Before atmospheric entry, Orion separates from its service module. The crew module completes reentry and splashdown. Keeping this return sequence distinct from lunar descent helps explain why changing the commercial lander does not eliminate the need to qualify Orion’s interfaces, propulsion operations, cabin systems, and recovery arrangements for the mission being flown.

Demonstrations and Contract Milestones Guide Provider Selection

NASA requires both companies to conduct an uncrewed demonstration with their crewed lander designs before carrying astronauts to the lunar surface. The agency also states that it will certify the lander systems before the crewed missions. These requirements remain part of the accelerated architecture.

The demonstrations address different operating sequences. SpaceX must demonstrate propellant aggregation supporting its revised mission. Blue Origin must demonstrate the full profile involving its lander and transfer stages. The common outcome is evidence that the selected transportation system can perform the operations assigned to it.

Artemis III supplies another category of evidence. Its Earth-orbit tests examine interaction with Orion, including approach, docking, software, communications, and crew procedures. Those results can inform later operations, but the mission does not replace a demonstration of the lander’s lunar flight profile.

NASA has also added development milestones to the contracts. SpaceX is adding two demonstrations of its Starship crew cabin, called Cabin 1. Blue Origin is adding human-in-the-loop tests and hardware-readiness milestones intended to support training development and ground and flight operations.

Human-in-the-loop testing includes people performing tasks within the system being evaluated. In a spacecraft program, this can reveal problems involving controls, procedures, access, timing, and the interaction between the crew and equipment. It complements tests focused on individual components or automated software behavior.

The distinction between these milestones and the Artemis III Starship test is particularly relevant. Astronauts are not scheduled to enter Starship during the two-hour docking exercise. Cabin demonstrations address a different part of the lander’s development rather than duplicating that flight objective.

The October announcement does not identify a winning provider for the first landing. NASA says readiness will determine its selection. An assigned role in Artemis III, completion of a ground test, or publication of a mission diagram is not itself a commitment to use that company for the first surface expedition.

The contract changes also cover large cargo deliveries alongside human landing systems. NASA describes them as aligning requirements with the revised architecture and a higher intended mission cadence. The public announcement does not provide a detailed price breakdown for the amendments, so it does not establish the financial effect of each change.

The next documented decisions are tied to evidence from these activities: completing demonstrations, evaluating the flight systems, certifying a lander, and selecting the provider for the first crewed surface mission.

Initial Surface Operations Focus on Samples and Spacesuit Tests

NASA’s initial surface plan targets two moonwalks of approximately two hours each. The astronauts would collect lunar samples and test the capabilities of the spacesuit supplied by Axiom Space. These are the specific surface objectives stated in the October 23 lander announcement.

The planned moonwalk time is different from the total duration of a surface stay. SpaceX’s concept includes several days on the Moon, but preparation, cabin activities, system checks, and recovery between excursions are separate from time spent outside. The announcement does not provide a complete day-by-day surface schedule.

The Axiom spacesuit is a separate system from the Orion Crew Survival System suits evaluated during Artemis III. A lunar surface suit must support work outside the lander in vacuum. New Space Economy’s explanation of the Axiom suit describes the relationship between its pressure garment, mobility features, and portable life-support equipment.

The landing region adds specific operating demands. NASA’s description of the lunar South Pole emphasizes low-angle sunlight, long shadows, rugged terrain, and large differences between illuminated and permanently shadowed locations. These conditions affect navigation, power supply, equipment temperatures, and where astronauts can work.

A short moonwalk still requires careful task and route planning. A nearby destination may be difficult to reach because of slopes, rocks, crater boundaries, or lighting. NASA’s environmental assessment identifies detailed mapping and robotic exploration as means of improving knowledge of usable landing areas and surface routes.

Lunar dust is another practical concern. The regolith contains broken rock, mineral fragments, glass, and fine abrasive particles. NASA notes that dust can cling to suits, enter mechanisms and seals, obscure optical surfaces, and affect radiators and solar arrays. Its effects connect the outdoor expedition with operations inside the lander after astronauts return.

The samples have value beyond the landing itself. NASA’s Artemis III plan includes tests of how future lunar samples could be transported, received, and moved into curation facilities after splashdown. Teams also plan to assess Orion’s environment for potential contamination considerations. This creates a direct operational link between Earth-orbit testing and the later return of scientific material.

New Space Economy’s coverage of the lunar South Pole explains the region’s role in NASA’s broader surface plans. The initial crewed landings described in October have narrower stated objectives: deliver and return the crew, collect samples, and evaluate surface equipment. Their operating plans are specific steps toward that work, rather than evidence that a continuously occupied lunar base has already been established.

Summary

NASA’s revised Artemis architecture gives its two lander providers different assignments in the journey from Earth orbit to the lunar surface. SpaceX would retain a tanker-and-depot campaign and add the task of propelling Orion toward low lunar orbit. Blue Origin would defer propellant transfer for its accelerated mission, assemble three transfer stages with Blue Moon, and meet Orion in an elliptical polar lunar orbit.

Artemis III is planned to test Orion with both providers in Earth orbit in 2027. Its Blue Moon phase includes crew entry and cabin evaluations; its Starship phase focuses on docking and connected-spacecraft performance without crew entry. Separate uncrewed demonstrations must address the lunar mission profiles.

The contractual change makes provider selection depend on readiness rather than retaining the original mission assignments. NASA’s 2028 landing target remains a planned objective. The documented work leading to that decision includes cabin tests, integrated flight demonstrations, certification, and preparation for sample collection and spacesuit evaluations near the lunar South Pole.

Appendix: Top Questions Answered in This Article

What Changed in NASA’s Artemis Lunar Landing Plans?

NASA introduced different mission routes for SpaceX and Blue Origin. Starship would meet Orion in Earth orbit and propel the joined vehicles toward the Moon; Blue Moon would travel ahead using three transfer stages and meet Orion in lunar orbit. NASA also removed the original provider assignments to specific landing missions.

When Is the First Crewed Landing Planned?

NASA targets a crewed lunar landing in 2028. The agency says it will select the first provider according to lander readiness, with a second crewed landing opportunity following. The target is a planned mission objective, and neither company has been assigned a specific lunar landing mission under the realigned contracts.

What Will Artemis III Do?

Artemis III is planned as a 14-day Earth-orbit mission in 2027. Four astronauts would fly Orion and conduct operations with Blue Moon and Starship test vehicles. The mission includes rendezvous, docking, systems evaluations, and other investigations that support later lunar operations; it is not the planned surface landing.

Will Astronauts Enter Both Test Landers?

The crew would enter the Blue Moon test article and spend approximately two days evaluating its cabin and systems. Astronauts would not enter Starship during its docking demonstration, which is expected to last up to two hours. That test concentrates on how Orion and Starship operate as connected spacecraft.

Does Starship Still Need Orbital Refueling?

Yes. SpaceX’s revised concept retains tanker flights that supply a depot in Earth orbit, followed by fueling of the lunar lander. NASA says the new low-lunar-orbit concept reduces the amount of propellant required, but its October announcement does not provide a new tanker count or total propellant requirement.

How Would Blue Moon Reach Lunar Orbit?

Blue Origin plans to assemble its Mark 2 Alpha Lander with three transfer stages in low Earth orbit. The connected stack would depart toward the Moon, shedding each stage as its propellant is depleted. The lander would reach an elliptical polar lunar orbit and meet the separately launched Orion spacecraft.

Why Are the Lunar Orbits Changing?

NASA says the selected orbits reduce lander propellant requirements and shorten the return from the surface to Orion. SpaceX’s concept uses low lunar orbit, and Blue Origin’s uses an elliptical polar orbit. The agency describes the choices as tailored to each provider’s system rather than retaining a common rendezvous orbit.

How Will Astronauts Return to Earth?

The surface crew would ascend in the commercial lander and rejoin Orion in lunar orbit. All four astronauts would then return to Earth aboard Orion. Its service module supports the journey before separation, and the crew module performs atmospheric reentry and splashdown.

What Must Happen Before a Crewed Landing?

Each provider must perform an uncrewed demonstration with its crewed lander design, and NASA must certify the lander systems. SpaceX’s demonstration includes propellant aggregation; Blue Origin’s includes its transfer-stage mission profile. Earth-orbit docking tests and additional cabin or human-in-the-loop milestones provide other evidence for NASA’s readiness assessment.

What Will Astronauts Do on the Surface?

NASA targets two moonwalks of approximately two hours each during the initial surface missions. Astronauts would collect lunar samples and test Axiom Space’s spacesuit capabilities. This outside working time is separate from the total surface stay, which also includes activities and preparations inside the lander.

Appendix: Glossary of Key Terms

Near-Rectilinear Halo Orbit

An elongated orbital path in the Earth-Moon gravitational environment that repeatedly brings a spacecraft relatively close to the Moon and then much farther away. Earlier Artemis plans used this orbit as the meeting location for Orion and commercial lunar landers.

Rendezvous and Docking

Rendezvous brings two spacecraft together by coordinating their orbital paths, timing, and relative motion. Docking is the subsequent physical connection. A successful rendezvous does not automatically complete docking, which also requires precise alignment and operation of the connecting mechanisms.

Test Article

A vehicle or item of hardware built for testing particular systems, functions, or operating conditions. A test article may incorporate equipment intended for later missions without carrying every capability of the final operational spacecraft. Its results must be interpreted against its specific test objectives.

Translunar Injection

A propulsion maneuver that places a spacecraft on a trajectory toward the Moon. It changes the vehicle’s motion from its preceding Earth-orbiting path. Additional navigation and propulsion activities are generally needed to reach the intended lunar operating orbit.

Propellant Aggregation

The collection of propellant from multiple deliveries to provide the quantity needed for a mission. In SpaceX’s planned lunar architecture, tanker spacecraft deliver supplies to an orbital depot, which subsequently transfers propellant to the Starship lunar lander.

Cryogenic Propellant

Rocket propellant maintained as a liquid at extremely low temperatures. Storage and transfer systems must manage heat entering the tanks, vapor formation, pressure, and liquid movement. These requirements become particularly relevant when propellant remains in space for extended periods.

Transfer Stage

A propulsion stage used to move another spacecraft or payload toward its destination. In Blue Origin’s revised lunar concept, three stages would operate in sequence after assembly in Earth orbit, separating as their propellant is depleted during the journey.

Attitude Control

Control of a spacecraft’s orientation, including the direction its engines, antennas, sensors, and solar arrays face. Attitude control differs from changing orbital position, although both can involve thrusters. Accurate orientation is needed for propulsion maneuvers and close approaches to other spacecraft.

Human-in-the-Loop Testing

Testing in which people perform tasks as part of the system under evaluation. It helps assess how controls, procedures, equipment, and human actions work together. For spacecraft, it can inform training, cabin design, workload, and ground or flight operations.

Regolith

The loose surface material covering solid bedrock on the Moon, including broken rock, mineral fragments, glass, and dust. Repeated impacts create and redistribute it. Fine particles can adhere to equipment and spacesuits, making contamination and abrasion relevant to surface operations.