The best lunar space startups
5 lunar companies in the directory, ranked by disclosed funding ($135M raised between them), spanning 2 countries.
The Moon has gone from symbol to worksite. Rovers, landers, resource extraction and the infrastructure for a permanent lunar economy, built by startups betting the Artemis era is real.
Updated 27 September 2026 · Follow by RSS
State of the sector
As of 27 September 2026
The companies here work on the Moon's surface. Astrolab and Lunar Outpost build rovers, and GITAI builds robots for construction. Helios wants to extract oxygen and metals from lunar soil, and Interlune wants to harvest helium-3.
In May 2026 NASA selected Astrolab to provide the rover for the Artemis astronauts' return to the Moon. Getting there still depends on landers. ispace's second lander crashed in June 2025, and in June 2026 NASA ordered a second Peregrine lander from Astrobotic.
Latest milestones
Every dated event from the companies below, newest first, each with its source.
Astrolab: NASA selects Astrolab to provide the lunar rover for Artemis astronauts’ return to the Moon
Interlune: US Department of Energy agrees to buy three litres of lunar helium-3, the first purchase of a non-terrestrial resource
Lunar Outpost: MAPP rover reaches the Moon on IM-2 but cannot deploy after the Athena lander tips over; the rover survives and returns transit dataAstrolab: FLIP, its smaller rover, becomes the primary payload on Astrobotic’s Griffin-1 Moon lander
Helios: Signs an MoU with BlueScopeX to trial Helios green iron in steelmakingAstrolab: Wins one of three places on NASA’s $4.6B Lunar Terrain Vehicle contract for ArtemisLunar Outpost: Leads the Lunar Dawn team awarded a NASA Lunar Terrain Vehicle contract for ArtemisInterlune: Comes out of stealth with $18M to harvest lunar helium-3Helios: Selected for DARPA’s LunA-10 lunar architecture study, the only non-US company among fourteenShow 5 earlier milestones
Astrolab: Books its FLEX rover onto a SpaceX Starship lunar lander flight, SpaceX’s first commercial lunar cargo contractHelios: Announces a sodium-based process making iron at 400°C with no direct CO2, taking the lunar tech to steelAstrolab: Emerges from stealth, unveiling FLEX with a full-scale prototype driven in the California desertHelios: Signs with ispace to fly Lunar Extractor oxygen-making payloads on its second and third Moon missionsAll 5 lunar companies
Ranked by disclosed funding.
How many lunar space startups are there in 2026?
Space Bandits tracks 5 lunar companies, 5 of them active, with $135M in disclosed funding between them.
What is the latest news from lunar startups?
The most recent milestone on record is from Astrolab, dated May 2026: "NASA selects Astrolab to provide the lunar rover for Artemis astronauts’ return to the Moon."
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