NASA awards Blue Origin new lunar mission to deliver VIPER rover in 2027

NASA awards Blue Origin new lunar mission to deliver VIPER rover in 2027
by Clarence Oxford
Los Angeles CA (SPX) Sep 22, 2025

NASA has selected Blue Origin of Kent, Washington, for a new Commercial Lunar Payload Services (CLPS) task order, assigning the company an option to deliver the VIPER (Volatiles Investigating Polar Exploration Rover) to the Moon's South Pole. The rover will probe permanently shadowed regions to search for ice and other volatiles critical to future human missions on the Moon and Mars.

"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," said acting NASA Administrator Sean Duffy. "Our rover will explore the extreme environment of the lunar South Pole, traveling to small, permanently shadowed regions to help inform future landing sites for our astronauts and better understand the Moon's environment - important insights for sustaining humans over longer missions, as America leads our future in space."

The contract, known as CS-7, carries a potential value of $190 million. Blue Origin previously won its first CLPS delivery for 2025 using its Blue Moon Mark 1 (MK1) lander to carry NASA payloads, including Stereo Cameras for Lunar-Plume Surface Studies and a Laser Retroreflective Array. For the VIPER mission, the company will use a second Blue Moon MK1, targeting a late 2027 landing.

NASA canceled the VIPER project in the past but revived the mission through this new structure, which separates design and payload accommodation work from the actual delivery option. The agency will decide whether to exercise the deployment option after Blue Origin completes its first MK1 flight and demonstrates technical readiness.

"NASA is committed to studying and exploring the Moon, including learning more about water on the lunar surface, to help determine how we can harness local resources for future human exploration," said Nicky Fox, associate administrator for NASA's Science Mission Directorate. "We've been looking for creative, cost-effective approaches to accomplish these exploration goals. This private sector-developed landing capability enables this delivery and focuses our investments accordingly - supporting American leadership in space and ensuring our long-term exploration is robust and affordable."

The mission architecture places Blue Origin in charge of payload integration, lander design, testing, and deployment, while NASA will manage rover operations and scientific objectives. VIPER is designed for a 100-day mission window, requiring a precise late 2027 landing to meet its science objectives.

Joel Kearns, deputy associate administrator for exploration at NASA, emphasized the importance of the mission: "The search for lunar volatiles plays a key role in NASA's exploration of the Moon, with important implications for both science and human missions under Artemis. This delivery could show us where ice is most likely to be found and easiest to access, as a future resource for humans. And by studying these sources of lunar water, we also gain valuable insight into the distribution and origin of volatiles across the solar system, helping us better understand the processes that have shaped our space environment and how our inner solar system has evolved."

NASA's Ames Research Center in California's Silicon Valley led development of VIPER and will oversee its science operations, while Johnson Space Center in Houston contributed rover engineering expertise.