NASA Says Bezos’ Blue Origin Can Compete For Up to $10 Billion in Moon Base Contracts, As Musk’s SpaceX Soars
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NASA on Nov. 7, 2026 named eight companies, including Jeff Bezos’ privately held Blue Origin and Elon Musk’s SpaceX (NASDAQ:SPCX | SPCX Price Prediction), to a new decade-long Commercial Lunar Payload Services (CLPS) contract. The contract has a combined maximum value of $10 billion, per NASA. All eight companies share that ceiling, and the money only flows through future task orders, which are individual mission purchases NASA has not yet made. No single company won the $10 billion. Fox Business described the figure as a cap on future orders, with no money yet awarded.
Space stocks rose anyway. SpaceX closed at $142.07 on Nov. 9, up 5.81% from $134.27. The smaller lunar companies gained more.
What NASA Signed and What Remains Optional
The new CLPS deal is a multiple-award, indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity (IDIQ) master contract. That means NASA sets the terms and a spending cap but commits to no specific missions. The eligible companies are Blue Origin, Firefly Aerospace (NASDAQ:FLY), Intuitive Machines (NASDAQ:LUNR), ispace-U.S., Lockheed Martin Space, Northrop Grumman Space Systems, SpaceX and Voyager Technologies (NYSE:VOYG). NASA calls this Moon Base work, though the contract itself covers deliveries to the lunar surface. NASA has not said how many missions it will order or how it will split them.
Two pieces are stronger. Blue Origin holds a $94 million base contract, per NASA, to deliver the PROMISE rover on its Mark One lander, plus an option worth an additional $140 million. NASA is aiming late 2028 for launch. Separately, SpaceX will launch communications satellites on a Starship to cislunar space (the region between Earth and the Moon) in 2028. NASA also raised its existing CLPS contract from $2.6 billion to $4.2 billion.
Which Space Stocks Gain, and by How Much
Intuitive Machines rose 15% to $12.04. The company guides to $900 million to $1 billion in 2026 revenue, so new lander orders would make a real difference. CEO Steve Altemus told Yahoo Finance the company is “excited to participate in this next evolution of CLPS.”
Firefly rose 17.1% to $24.31. It already has six contracted lunar missions, and it guides to $420 million to $450 million in 2026 revenue.
Voyager rose 16.37% to $27.91. Its Astrobotic lander unit secured a $298 million NASA award.
Lockheed Martin (NYSE:LMT) rose 3.74% to $588.28, and Northrop Grumman rose 2.69%. Lockheed’s Space division alone brought in $3.485 billion in the third quarter, so lunar deliveries would be a small contributor relative to that division.
Why the Rally Outran the Contract
Yahoo Finance reported at 8:43 a.m. PT on Nov. 9 that SpaceX had added more than $100 billion in market value intraday. Yahoo noted that NASA’s entire 10-year lunar ceiling was about a tenth of that one-day gain. Most of SpaceX’s $14.60 billion third-quarter revenue came from $7.60 billion in AI Solutions and Infrastructure. The Space division contributed $1.80 billion. The rebound also followed a 9.05% drop to $123.62 on Nov. 5 in the post-midterm selloff.
Competition also got harder. Eight bidders now share one ceiling, and Blue Origin brings Bezos’ deep pockets to a field where Intuitive Machines, Firefly and Astrobotic have been the repeat winners.
Does This Change the Case for Lunar Stocks?
For the small caps, yes, but only as a longer pipeline. Gains of 15% or more already price in missions NASA has not ordered, and those companies now compete for each order against two billionaire-backed rivals. For SpaceX and Lockheed, the contract barely moves their numbers. NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman said, “We are building the Moon Base mission by mission.” Two things will show what this contract is actually worth: NASA’s first task order under it, naming a company and a dollar amount, and the late 2028 PROMISE launch target.
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AJ spent 10 years writing about financial markets at The Motley Fool. His coverage centers on technology stocks and the broader macroeconomic trends, from interest rates to geopolitics, that shape where markets are headed next. AJ is drawn to the stories where big-picture economics and individual companies collide.
