NASA updated its Artemis III candidate landing regions near the lunar south pole to nine zones, down from the 13 regions identified in 2022, and the list was publicly reinforced in October 2024 and again in March 2026 coverage. The nine regions are Peak near Cabeus B, Haworth, Malapert Massif, Mons Mouton Plateau, Mons Mouton, Nobile Rim 1, Nobile Rim 2, de Gerlache Rim 2, and Slater Plain. Each region contains multiple potential landing sites, and NASA said the areas would undergo further scientific and engineering study.
Technical value is concentrated in the south pole’s terrain: likely access to permanently shadowed regions, preserved volatiles, and water ice, plus varied geology for sampling. NASA’s site screening explicitly balances science potential, launch window availability, terrain suitability, communication with Earth, lighting, and safety, which are the same constraints any durable lunar habitat must solve. The narrowing to nine regions shows that viable settlement zones will be tightly constrained by power, thermal stability, line-of-sight communications, and proximity to resource-rich shadowed terrain.
Ark action: treat these nine regions as the primary benchmark for lunar settlement engineering, resource prospecting, and contamination control policy. Prioritize monitoring of NASA’s next down-select, landing-site maps, navigation grids, and any data on ice distribution, slope hazards, and illumination cycles at the listed sites. Integrate the region list into long-horizon Ark models for water extraction, shielding, mobility corridors, and preservation of scientifically pristine zones around permanently shadowed deposits.