NASA has joined hands with the astronautics company, Blue Origin, aiming to send the VIPER rover to the moon’s south pole in 2027.
The proclamation came on September, 19 in which NASA announced that Blue Origin won a $190 million task order under the Commercial Lunar Payload Services (CLPS) in a bid to land the VIPER (Volatiles Investigating Polar Exploration Rover) on moon.
According to acting NASA Administrator Sean Duffy, “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.”
The VIPER mission is considered a key part of NASA’s Artemis program, which is meant to ensure long-term human presence on the moon by 2030 and to outshine China in the escalating space race.
Under this collaboration, the ice-hunting robotic lunar rover will be used to detect the traces of water ice on the moon’s south polar region.
VIPER would be also used to check the accessibility of water and break the elements of water to make rocket fuel.
Originally, VIPER was designed to land on the moon in late 2023 in collaboration with Astrobotic’s Griffin under the CLPS program.
However, after the intermittent landing delays, NASA cancelled the mission.