Voyager Technologies, the growing defense and aerospace company based in Denver, is looking at the moon — and willing to spend $300 million to get in on the action surrounding the first lunar base.

The company announced this week it signed an agreement to acquire Pittsburgh-based Astrobotic Technology, an aerospace company that develops lunar landers, rovers, robots and rockets.

The deal is worth $300 million and is expected to close in July, Voyager said in a news release.

The acquisition is set to help position Voyager toward becoming a fixture in NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman’s plans to not only bring Americans to the moon but stay there permanently as soon as 2028.

Astrobotic was the first commercial company to attempt to land on the moon, but failed to get there in 2024 due to a propellant leak. That feat was later claimed by Texas-based Firefly Aerospace.

Astrobotic will attempt again later this year to start helping NASA build the moon base’s infrastructure in a mission renamed last week to Moon Base II.

For the base, NASA will rely on commercial partners to help build its infrastructure.

Golden-based Lunar Outpost also won a huge contract to build the first fleet of lunar rovers supporting the base and the Artemis mission.

The federal space agency announced it is seeking proposals throughout June for the second wave of its Commercial Lunar Payload Services program, the same program that helped finance Astrobotic’s first attempt to land on the moon.

“Achieving that vision requires robust operational systems that match the resilience necessary for critical, repeatable missions,” said Dylan Taylor, Voyager’s CEO and chairman, in a news release. “With Astrobotic, Voyager is now a lunar platform that will have capability at every infrastructure layer needed to put Americans on the lunar surface and keep them there.”

Earlier this year, Voyager secured a contract with NASA to go to the International Space Station and to experiment with technologies that could be used for the future moon base. The company is also a major investor in Max Space, a company specializing in structures that can be launched and expanded into habitats.

Though Voyager is based in Denver, the company said it will make Astrobotic’s headquarters in Pittsburgh the “center of Voyager’s lunar program” to not break continuity.

Astrobotic’s lander heading to the moon’s south pole, Griffin Mission One or NASA’s Moon Base II, will continue to be on schedule for launch later this year as the company folds into Voyager.

The Denver company said it would “accelerate” its investment to scale Astrobotics technology for the moon base.

Partnering with Voyager, which is a publicly-traded company valued at $2.8 billion, will help Astrobotic have more resources and capabilities, stated Astrobotic CEO John Thornton.

“Astrobotic was built to prove that commercial companies can deliver to the Moon,” said Thornton. “Joining Voyager gives that mission the scale and long-term commitment it has been building toward for nearly two decades.”