Blue Origin awarded $190 million contract for landing NASA's high-profile VIPER rover at the Moon's southern pole.
NASA's VIPER Rover: A New Leap for Lunar Exploration
After a brief hiatus, NASA's VIPER (Volatiles Investigating Polar Exploration Rover) mission has been revived, marking another significant step in NASA's efforts to establish a commercial lunar economy. The company selected to deliver VIPER to the lunar surface under the revised Artemis program is Blue Origin, using its Blue Moon Mark 1 (MK1) lander, with a targeted landing in late 2027.
The VIPER rover, led by NASA's Ames Research Center in California, will probe permanently shadowed regions of the moon's south pole, paving the way for future landing sites for astronauts. Its primary scientific goal remains unchanged: searching for volatiles such as water ice.
The contract, awarded in the form of a task order called CS-7, includes a base contract for design and rover off-loading systems, as well as an option for Blue Origin to deliver VIPER on its MK1 lander. This is Blue Origin's second CLPS (Commercial Lunar Payload Services) award, following its first, scheduled for launch later this year.
The Blue Moon MK1 lander is currently in production, and VIPER's 100-day science mission will guide future lunar exploration efforts. The rover's data will provide valuable insights into the moon's polar regions, helping to inform decisions about potential resource utilisation and human settlement.
Engineering support for the VIPER mission has been contributed by the Johnson Space Center in Houston. The delivery of VIPER to the moon's south pole by Blue Origin's Blue Moon lander is part of NASA's Artemis campaign, which aims to establish a sustainable human presence on the moon.
NASA will decide whether to exercise the full delivery option after reviewing Blue Origin's first MK1 lander mission. If successful, it will mark another milestone in NASA's mission to explore the moon and lay the groundwork for a future lunar economy.
This revival of VIPER is a testament to the growing commercial interest in lunar exploration and the strides being made towards a sustainable human presence on the moon. As we look to the future, the VIPER mission promises to yield exciting discoveries and pave the way for further lunar exploration and development.
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