NextFin news, NASA announced on Friday, September 19, 2025, that it has selected Jeff Bezos’ space company Blue Origin to develop plans for delivering the VIPER (Volatiles Investigating Polar Exploration Rover) to the Moon’s south polar region. The mission targets a landing by late 2027.
The contract, known as CS-7, is valued at up to $190 million and was awarded through NASA’s Commercial Lunar Payload Services (CLPS) initiative. Blue Origin’s role includes designing payload accommodations and demonstrating how its Blue Moon MK1 uncrewed cargo lander will offload the VIPER rover onto the lunar surface.
NASA’s acting Administrator Sean Duffy stated, “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.”
VIPER is a robotic rover designed to explore permanently shadowed regions near the Moon’s south pole to search for volatile compounds, including water ice. This ice is critical for future lunar exploration as it can be converted into drinkable water, breathable oxygen, and rocket fuel components.
The rover’s mission duration is planned for approximately 100 days, during which it will map lunar resources to inform future Artemis program landing sites and support sustained human presence on the Moon.
Blue Origin’s CEO Dave Limp expressed enthusiasm about the partnership, highlighting the inclusion of Honeybee Robotics’ TRIDENT drill on VIPER, capable of penetrating up to one meter below the lunar surface to extract samples.
Originally, VIPER was scheduled to be delivered by Astrobotic’s Griffin lander, but due to cost overruns and schedule delays, NASA paused that plan in 2024. The agency then explored alternative delivery methods, culminating in the current contract with Blue Origin.
Blue Origin is already developing the Blue Moon MK1 lander under a previous CLPS contract, with a first launch planned for late 2025 to deliver NASA payloads including a camera system and a retroreflector array.
NASA will evaluate Blue Origin’s preparatory work and the success of the initial Blue Moon MK1 flight before deciding whether to exercise the option for Blue Origin to deliver and deploy VIPER on the lunar surface.
Astrobotic, which previously held the contract to deliver VIPER, decided not to bid on this new task order due to timeline constraints and existing commitments but expressed support for the rover’s continued mission.
The VIPER mission represents a key step in NASA’s Artemis program, aiming to establish a sustainable human presence on the Moon and advance lunar science.
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