By: Ruihao Rick Shan

San Jose, California- Rising costs have forced NASA to cancel its VIPER Moon Rover Program.

VIPER, short for Volatiles Investigating Polar Exploration Rover, was a robotic mission intended to land near the moon’s south pole and spend 100 days scouting for lunar ice deposits. The Rover was set to launch in late 2024 aboard Astrobotic’s Griffin Lander as part of NASA’s Commercial Lunar Pay Load Service.

The Rover was designed to explore the shadowed craters in the Moon’s polar regions, paving the way for NASA astronauts who are set to arrive there in a few years. Unfortunately, delays in the development of both the Rover and its accompanying spacecraft have disrupted the mission’s original schedule.

Joel Kearns, the Deputy Associate Administrator for Exploration in NASA’s Science Mission Directorate, says that NASA suffered from supply chain issues that delayed the shipment of key parts. “The delays occurred over and over for several key components,” he said.

NASA plans to disassemble the VIPER and reuse its instruments and other components. However, NASA is willing to listen to proposals about using the VIPER system from American companies or international partners as long as it doesn’t cost the federal government money.

Astrobotic has faced challenges with its landers in the past. For example, its first lander, the Peregrine Mission One, failed to reach the Moon due to a leak in the propulsion system. This issue led to a catastrophic failure during its re-entry attempt, resulting in the lander burning up in Earth’s atmosphere.

Astrobotic is allowed to sell space on the Griffin lander to other companies if it wants. “If they want to fly more commercial payloads, we can make our mass simulator smaller so that the total mass is the same,” said Dr. Kearns.

According to Nicola Fox, the Associate Administrator of NASA’s Science Mission Directorate, NASA could proceed with the VIPER, but it would result in cuts to other missions.