Promise Ledger
NASA Administrator from 2018 to January 2021. These are the dated public commitments by Jim Bridenstine that we could source to a primary, with what happened. Roles are as of the date each was said.
2 entries: 2 revised.
Plain counts, not a grade or a ranking. A short record is not a complete one. Updated Sep 28, 2026; each entry shows the date it was last checked against its source; scoring rules on the methodology page.
This first release is a selection, and a short record is not a complete record. Each programme milestone enters the ledger at its earliest dated public commitment we can find in a primary source, for governments and companies alike. Later dated commitments for the same milestone are shown on that one entry as a revision chain, oldest first, rather than as separate entries.
Spoke for: NASA
Revised · worded as a commitment
Landing · Jim Bridenstine, NASA Administrator · NASA
“Next year, our initial science and technology research will be on the lunar surface”
Said . Source: NASA: NASA Selects First Commercial Moon Landing Services for Artemis Program (May 31, 2019, paragraph 2 (Bridenstine quote))
Context: Said when NASA announced its first three CLPS lander task orders.
Later dated commitments for the same milestone
The counts use the original commitment. The latest date in the chain stands as: met late.
Outcome: Intuitive Machines' IM-1 (Odysseus) touched down in the lunar South Pole region on 2024-02-22 with NASA instruments aboard; NASA describes IM-1 as the mission "which landed, tipped over, and operated on the lunar surface". (, 783 days after the latest deadline)
Outcome source: NASA: Fourth Launch of NASA Instruments Planned for Near Moon's South Pole (Feb 26, 2025)
Checked against the source on Sep 26, 2026. Report a correction or send a response to this entry ·
Revised · worded as a commitment
Landing · Jim Bridenstine, NASA Administrator · NASA
“We are tasked with landing on the Moon’s South Pole by 2024.”
Said . Source: NASA: NASA Administrator Statement on Return to Moon in Next Five Years (RELEASE 19-022) (Mar 26, 2019, statement, paragraph 1)
Context: Statement after Vice President Mike Pence’s announcement at the fifth National Space Council meeting; the landing later became the Artemis III mission.
Later dated commitments for the same milestone
The counts use the original commitment. The latest date in the chain stands as: pending.
Outcome: No crewed landing on the Moon's South Pole took place by the end of 2024. NASA's 2026-02-27 update moved Artemis III to 2027 as a low Earth orbit test mission and planned the first landing for Artemis IV in 2028.
Outcome source: NASA: NASA Adds Mission to Artemis Lunar Program, Updates Architecture (RELEASE 26-022) (Feb 27, 2026)
Checked against the source on Sep 26, 2026. Report a correction or send a response to this entry ·
Open data: download the whole ledger (CSV, CC BY 4.0). Archived on Zenodo, DOI 10.5281/zenodo.22985970. How entries are scored: methodology. No sponsor, advertiser or partner can add, remove, reorder, annotate or preview an entry, and these pages carry no advertising.
Cite as: SpaceNexus. (2026). SpaceNexus Promise Ledger (Version 2026-09-28) [Data set]. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.22985970. Licensed CC BY 4.0.
The whole Promise Ledger, with every organisation and person, and the topic trackers.
Week in Space Data, every Friday.