Blue Origin's new lunar lander aims for Moon in 2026
Technology
Blue Origin just showed off its MK1 lunar lander, and it's aiming for a big Moon debut in early 2026.
The 8-meter-tall MK1 will hitch a ride on the New Glenn rocket and carry up to 3.3 tons of gear to the Moon's Shackleton crater—outdoing NASA's old Apollo landers.
This mission, called Blue Moon Pathfinder, will also test out new tech like precision landing systems and NASA's special cameras for checking out the lunar surface.
Why this matters
If MK1 pulls off an uncrewed landing, Blue Origin could leap ahead of SpaceX (which has hit some delays lately).
The upcoming system tests are a big deal—they'll show if MK1 is ready for prime time and could help decide who gets to shape future Moon missions.