Blue Origin will deliver the VIPER rover to the South Pole of the Moon. This will save a troubled project that has been on the verge of closure several times.
VIPER (Volatiles Investigating Polar Exploration Rover) is the first lunar rover built by NASA. It was planned to land it in one of the southern polar craters of the Moon using the Griffin descent platform built by Astrobotic. The main task of the vehicle was to study the regolith in order to determine the percentage of water ice it contained. For this purpose, the lunar rover was equipped with a drill capable of extracting samples from depths of up to one meter, as well as instruments for analyzing them.
However, in the summer of 2024, NASA unexpectedly canceled the mission, citing budget overruns as the reason. The fully assembled rover was supposed to be dismantled and its instruments used in other missions. The decision drew a storm of criticism from the scientific community. As a result, NASA decided to save the spacecraft by turning to private companies for help, offering them to take on its delivery to the Moon.
In the end, Blue Origin became VIPER’s savior. On September 19, it was announced that the company had been awarded a contract from NASA worth up to $190 million. The contract was awarded as part of the CLPS program.
Under the terms of the contract, Blue Origin will use the Blue Moon Mark 1 (MK1) landing module to deliver the lunar rover. It is 8 meters high, 3 meters in diameter, and weighs 21.35 tons (including fuel). The Blue Moon MK1 is capable of delivering up to 3 tons of cargo to the lunar surface.
The Blue Moon MK1 is scheduled to debut at the end of 2025. Under another contract with NASA, Blue Moon MK1 will deliver stereo cameras and masses of laser retroreflectors to the South Pole of the Moon. The success of the operation will allow us to begin preparations for the next mission involving VIPER. Blue Origin plans to launch a lunar rover by the end of 2027. VIPER will have to operate on the lunar surface for at least 100 days.
According to NASA
