NASA has announced the cancellation of its planned Moon rover mission, the Volatiles Investigating Polar Exploration Rover (VIPER), after spending $459 million on its development. The decision was made due to significant cost overruns and delays in the project, marking a setback for the agency’s lunar exploration program. VIPER was designed to explore the lunar south pole, searching for ice and other resources crucial to future lunar missions. The mission aimed to pave the way for planned crew missions under the Artemis program, NASA’s ambitious initiative to return astronauts to the Moon.
The rover’s initial launch date was set for 2023, with the goal of venturing into the Moon’s shadowed craters, where ice reserves have been stored for billions of years. However, in 2022, NASA delayed the launch to late 2024 for preflight testing of the Griffin lander vehicle, provided by Astrobotic, a Pittsburgh-based company under the Commercial Lunar Payload Services (CLPS) program. This public-private partnership aims to leverage commercial capabilities for lunar exploration. The launch date was further pushed back to September 2025, with the project cost rising to $609.6 million.
NASA’s associate administrator of the science mission directorate, Nicky Fox, acknowledged the difficult decision, stating that the projected remaining expenses for VIPER would have led to cancellations or disruptions of other crucial missions.
While the rover was fully assembled, it still needed to undergo tests to ensure its ability to withstand launch, navigate the vacuum of space, and endure extreme temperatures. Joel Kearns, deputy associate administrator for exploration in NASA’s science mission directorate, confirmed that Astrobotic was informed of NASA’s decision.
Despite the cancellation, there’s still a possibility that the rover could be repurposed in future missions, either partially or as a whole, depending on any potential agreement with NASA. In January, Astrobotic launched the Peregrine lander, which unfortunately failed to reach the Moon. The company plans to launch again in late 2024, carrying a “mass simulator” or heavy weight instead of a NASA rover.
Kearns emphasized that NASA is not falling behind in the global space race, citing the successful Chang’e-6 mission by China’s national space agency. He expressed confidence in the U.S.’s robust science program and lunar landing capabilities, fueled by the collaborative efforts of the space industry under the CLPS program.
