VIPER moon rover mission revived by NASA: This is why it issues

Blue Origin’s Blue Moon Mark 1 lander and NASA’s VIPER (Volatiles Investigating Polar Exploration Rover) proven right here on the lunar floor in an artist’s depiction. Credit: Blue Origin

NASA announced Friday, Sept. 19, it’s reviving its canceled water-hunting rover and has awarded Blue Origin a contract to ship it to the Moon’s South Pole in late 2027, a vital step within the company’s plan to ascertain a long-term human presence on the lunar floor.

The golf-cart-sized automobile, referred to as the Volatiles Investigating Polar Exploration Rover (VIPER), was controversially shelved simply over a 12 months in the past regardless of being virtually absolutely assembled. This new activity order, awarded below the Commercial Lunar Payload Services (CLPS) program, provides the almost half-billion-dollar machine a second likelihood at its mission and offers Jeff Bezos’s area firm a serious alternative to show its deep-space capabilities.

NASA didn’t give an express purpose for its reversal. But it comes as Trump administration officers have declared their intent to focus the company on exploration. While VIPER was constructed below NASA’s science funds, the mission can be thought of key for NASA and its Artemis program because the company races to scout for sources forward of competing lunar applications, most notably China’s.

“NASA is leading the world in exploring more of the Moon than ever before, and this delivery is just one of many ways we’re leveraging U.S. industry to support a long-term American presence on the lunar surface,” stated performing NASA Administrator Sean Duffy in Friday’s press launch. “Our rover will explore the extreme environment of the lunar South Pole … important insights for sustaining humans over longer missions, as America leads our future in space.” 

A brand new contract and renewed urgency

The revival marks a dramatic turnaround for VIPER, which was canceled in July 2024, gorgeous the scientific group. Its unique mission included a $199.5 million contract with industrial agency Astrobotic to ship it to the lunar floor. NASA had already spent $450 million to construct the rover; cancelling its launch would reserve it $84 million, the company stated.

In a July 2024 statement, NASA cited “cost increases, delays to the launch date, and the risks of future cost growth” as the explanations for the cancellation, after testing wants and provide chain points pushed the launch again by almost two years. (While NASA eliminated VIPER from its activity order with Astrobotic, the corporate’s Griffin lander is now slated to hold the FLIP rover from industrial accomplice Astrolab on its mission to the Moon.)

At the time, NASA stated it might contemplate proposals from business and different organizations to launch and function VIPER — so long as it got here without charge to the federal government.

The new contract with Blue Origin reverses that stance, however it’s structured to protect the company from additional value overruns and delays. The activity order, referred to as CS-7, consists of an preliminary award base for Blue Origin to deal with the mission’s design part — planning the end-to-end payload integration, designing particular lodging for VIPER, and demonstrating how the rover shall be safely offloaded onto the lunar floor. 

Then, NASA could have the choice for the precise touchdown after Blue Origin completes this preparatory work and efficiently lands its first MK1 mission later this 12 months. This strategy, with a complete potential worth of $190 million, shifts among the inherent dangers from the company to the corporate. As NASA famous in its Sept. 19 press release, “This unique approach will reduce the agency’s cost and technical risk.”

According to reporting from AreaNews, Blue Origin was the one CLPS supplier that would accommodate the rover and meet the accelerated 2027 touchdown date, a deadline now deemed vital for outpacing worldwide rivals. The resolution to revive the mission with a brand new contract construction comes because the company navigates broader monetary pressures, with its fiscal 12 months 2026 funds nonetheless dealing with congressional debate. 

A high-stakes supply

The new activity order is Blue Origin’s second from the CLPS program, however the firm’s efficiency on the lunar floor remains to be unproven. While Blue Origin efficiently launched its New Glenn rocket for the primary time earlier within the 12 months, its first touchdown try shall be later this 12 months, utilizing its Blue Moon Mark 1 lander to ship NASA’s Stereo Cameras for Lunar-Plume Surface Studies. If profitable, the identical lander mannequin will carry VIPER. Slightly taller than the Apollo Lunar Module, the MK1 is about to develop into the most important automobile to ever land on the lunar floor.

The CLPS initiative is a key a part of NASA’s technique to foster a industrial area financial system. Under this system, NASA buys payload supply companies from a pool of personal American corporations, permitting the company to quickly ship science and know-how experiments to the lunar floor. This mannequin, NASA acknowledges, comes with a better danger of failure — a actuality underscored by latest setbacks just like the lack of Astrobotic’s Peregrine lander and the exhausting landings of Intuitive Machines’ IM-1 and IM-2 missions.

A rover constructed for extremes

VIPER’s 100-day mission is central to the strategic targets of the Artemis program. While rovers have explored the Moon because the Soviet Lunokhods of the Seventies, VIPER is uniquely designed for one of the crucial hostile environments conceivable. It will use headlights to navigate and prospect for water ice in completely shadowed craters the place daylight hasn’t reached for billions of years, making them among the coldest spots within the photo voltaic system. This ice is taken into account a vital useful resource, probably offering ingesting water, breathable air, and rocket propellant for future astronauts.

To conduct its search, VIPER will wield a collection of specialised instruments. Its main instrument is the Regolith and Ice Drill for Exploring New Territories (TRIDENT), a one-meter percussion drill able to boring into the robust lunar soil. The shavings from the drill are then analyzed by three spectrometers to find out their composition. Beyond its scientific payload, VIPER options an modern mobility system; its 4 wheels can transfer independently, permitting it to traverse steep slopes and even “swim” via extraordinarily mushy soil by sweeping its wheels, a vital functionality for navigating unpredictable alien terrain.

A race for sources

Finding and mapping these sources has taken on new urgency amid a “second space race.” Under Duffy, NASA has accelerated plans for lunar infrastructure, together with a nuclear fission reactor that would energy a lunar base. This goals to counter China’s targets of touchdown its personal astronauts by 2030 and developing a reactor with Russia by the mid-2030s, probably establishing “keep-out zones” round beneficial sources. This technique is underpinned by the U.S.-led Artemis Accords, a global framework for peaceable lunar exploration signed by dozens of countries, however notably not by China and Russia. By mapping accessible water ice, VIPER will present the foundational knowledge wanted to pick out touchdown websites and plan for a sustainable American foothold on the Moon.

The mission’s revival, approaching the heels of a latest appropriations invoice that bolstered funding for the Artemis program, echoes a renewed deal with the company’s exploration aims. “The search for lunar volatiles plays a key role in NASA’s exploration of the Moon, with important implications for both science and human missions under Artemis,” stated Joel Kearns, a deputy affiliate administrator at NASA, within the Sept. 19 press release. “This delivery could show us where ice is most likely to be found and easiest to access, as a future resource for humans.”

If Blue Origin succeeds, it won’t solely resurrect this important science mission but in addition strengthen its place as a key participant in America’s return to the Moon. The firm has already been contracted by NASA to construct a human touchdown system for Artemis crews that will function an alternative choice to SpaceX’s Starship lander. Reacting to the announcement on the social media platform X, Blue Origin CEO Dave Limp said, “This mission is critical to establishing a long-term presence on the Moon, and we’re proud to play a role in this important endeavor.”