Apple iPhones Headed to Moon as NASA Deepens Commercial Ties

NASA astronauts venturing deeper in space than any human has traveled will be able to document and share images from the landmark moon mission next month using NASA-provided Apple iPhones.

Crews undertaking a lunar flyby as part of the Artemis program, and a preceding International Space Station mission in February, will fly with “the latest smartphones,” NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman said in a social media post.

“We are giving our crews the tools to capture special moments for their families and share inspiring images and video with the world,” said Isaacman, the former chief executive of a mobile payments company.

The smartphones provided for the upcoming flights are iPhones, but the agency said other devices may be certified in the future. Prior to this, no phones have ever been licensed for space flight aboard a NASA spacecraft.

“This is a first for us, although it has been done safely aboard commercial space flights for around a decade now,” NASA spokesperson Bethany Stevens said on Thursday.

Isaacman brought a smartphone aboard his commercial space flight in 2024.

“We challenged long-standing processes and qualified modern hardware for spaceflight on an expedited timeline,” Isaacman added.

President Donald Trump’s pick to run the agency is on a mission to cut bureaucracy at NASA and harness private sector firms including Elon Musk’s SpaceX in a bid to accelerate the agency’s work.

It’s rare for commercially available products to be used on space missions, which typically require more arduous testing of equipment. Omega’s Speedmaster Professional timepiece was used during the Apollo missions and became the first watch worn on the moon. It’s now on display at the Smithsonian’s National Air and Space Museum — but it can also be purchased by anyone with about $7,500 to spare.