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6d ago

NASA Taps Blue Origin to Revive VIPER Rover for 2027 Lunar South Pole Delivery

The conditional CLPS award funds lander upgrades now, with full mission proceeding only after Blue Moon Mk1 proves itself on an earlier flight.

Blue Origin’s Blue Moon Mark 1 lander and NASA’s VIPER (Volatiles Investigating Polar Exploration Rover) shown here on the lunar surface in an artist’s depiction. Credit: Blue Origin
image: ©Thibault Renard | iStock

Overview

  • NASA issued CLPS task order CS-7 to Blue Origin as a base-plus-option award valued at up to about $190 million.
  • Exercising the delivery option hinges on a successful first Blue Moon Mk1 landing and completion of VIPER-specific lander modifications.
  • The plan targets a late-2027 launch on Blue Moon Mk1’s second mission to the Moon’s south polar region.
  • Blue Origin was the only bidder for CS-7, as Astrobotic declined to propose given the compressed schedule and VIPER’s 450-kilogram mass limits compatible landers.
  • If flown, VIPER would run a roughly 100-day surface campaign, traversing up to about 12 miles with a 1-meter drill and spectrometers to map lunar volatiles for Artemis planning.