The Moon Mission That Almost Wasn’t: How Intuitive Machines Could Save VIPER

On 17 July, NASA announced the development of the Volatiles Investigating Polar Exploration Rover (VIPER) rover was cancelled because of project delays and budget overruns. However, Intuitive Machines may take over the NASA lunar rover mission.

The mission was meant to explore shadowed areas of the Moon to better understand where ice is and its condition.

Increased Expenses And Delays

The VIPER rover was planned to launch in late 2023 on Astrobotic Technology’s lander. However, in 2022, NASA requested a delay until late 2024 to allow more time for preflight testing of the Astrobotic lander. Since then, further schedule and supply chain delays have pushed VIPER’s readiness date to September 2025. Independently, its CLPS launch aboard Astrobotic’s Griffin lander has also been delayed to a similar timeframe.

NASA also reported that approximately $450 million had already been spent on VIPER rover development.

Intuitive Machines may save the VIPER mission

Intuitive Machines announced plans to lead a coalition of organizations aiming to assume responsibility for a NASA lunar rover mission. During the meeting on 13 August, company executives disclosed their intention to respond to NASA’s recent request for information (RFI) issued on 9 August, SpaceNews reports. This RFI sought proposals from interested entities to take over the Volatiles Investigating Polar Exploration Rover (VIPER) mission, which NASA had previously indicated it would cancel in July.

Steve Altemus, CEO of Intuitive Machines, outlined that the company had already submitted an expression of interest to NASA regarding VIPER.

While specific partners were not disclosed during the call, Altemus emphasized VIPER’s scientific significance for lunar research, the Artemis program’s future, and its crucial role in identifying volatiles and water ice within lunar soil.

What’s Next For VIPER?

Previously, NASA intended to disassemble VIPER to repurpose its instruments and components.

As we reported before, NASA planned to review proposals from American companies and international partners interested in independently flying VIPER at no cost to the government.

“The agency has an array of missions planned to look for ice and other resources on the Moon over the next five years. Our path forward will make maximum use of the technology and work that went into VIPER while preserving critical funds to support our robust lunar portfolio,” Nicola Fox, associate administrator, Science Mission Directorate, NASA Headquarters in Washington.

CLPS Mission To Investigate Lunar Ice

Also, the space agency stated that it plans to investigate the presence of lunar ice through other projects.

“We are committed to studying and exploring the Moon for the benefit of humanity through the CLPS program,” added Fox.

CLPS mission, the Polar Resources Ice Mining Experiment-1 (PRIME-1), is scheduled to land in the fourth quarter of 2024. It will conduct a search for water ice and demonstrate resource utilization. This mission will utilize a drill and mass spectrometer to assess the volatile content of subsurface materials.

As to Astrobotic, they still plan to launch their Griffin moon lander, though without the rover, by the end of 2025.

The article was updated on 14 August.