NASA awarded $590.4 million in new Moon Base lander contracts Tuesday, but the agency has not disclosed what its broader Moon-to-Mars program will cost taxpayers.

It’s a question NASA has not answered for more than a month. Administrator Jared Isaacman gave no total cost estimate at a May 26 briefing despite direct questions from reporters. NASA has also not updated a $20 billion, seven-year cost estimate Isaacman gave in March for building the lunar base alone. That figure does not include the broader Moon-to-Mars program. NASA officials responded to a written question from The Center Square seeking that figure by a June 25 deadline, but didn’t provide an estimate. The total mission’s cost did not come up at Tuesday’s briefing.

A NASA spokesperson did not respond to a request for comment sent Tuesday on the total cost of its Moon-to-Mars program before publication.

NASA selected three commercial space companies Tuesday to deliver four new science payloads to the lunar surface in late 2028. Astrobotic received $297.9 million for two deliveries. Astrobotic is in the process of being acquired by Voyager Technologies in a deal pending regulatory approval and expected to close in July 2026. Firefly Aerospace received $144.2 million and Intuitive Machines received $148.3 million, each for one delivery, NASA officials said.

Each lander will carry three NASA instruments: a camera system that studies how a lander’s engine exhaust disturbs lunar dust, a reflector device used for navigation and a radiation monitor.

The unanswered question comes a week after NASA’s Office of Inspector General reported that contract values on four canceled or repurposed Artemis systems more than doubled, from $2.8 billion to $5.9 billion.

The Government Accountability Office has designated NASA acquisition management a high-risk area for more than 30 years.

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