Commercial Lunar Payload Services
Commercial Lunar Payload Services (CLPS) is a NASA program to send small robotic landers and rovers to the Moon's south polar region mostly[1][2] with the goals of looking for lunar resources and performing lunar science to support the Artemis lunar program.[3]
As a component of NASA's Artemis program, the agency is investing $2.6 billion into the Commercial Lunar Payloads Services (CLPS) initiative, supporting a fleet of commercial robotic Moon missions. Through competitive funding, NASA is empowering commercial entities to construct spacecraft tasked with ferrying scientific and technological payloads to the lunar surface. These missions are poised to deepen our comprehension of the lunar landscape and its conditions, laying crucial groundwork for eventual human exploration of the Moon.
Upcoming CLPS missions[change | change source]
Mission 2024[4][change | change source]
Intuitive Machines' IM-2 mission is set to transport the PRIME-1 drill to the lunar south pole.
Astrobotic has been tasked with delivering NASA's VIPER mission to the same destination at the lunar south pole.
Firefly Aerospace, Inc. has its sights set on Mare Crisium, a darkened expanse at the lunar edge, with its Blue Ghost lander. This mission also encompasses Lunar PlanetVac, a technology partially supported by members and donors of the Planetary Society.
Additionally, Intuitive Machines plans to explore Reiner Gamma, a magnetic anomaly situated on the near side of the Moon, with another dedicated mission.
References[change | change source]
- ↑ NASA taps 3 companies for commercial moon missions Archived February 26, 2020, at the Wayback Machine. William Harwood, CBS News. 31 May 2019.
- ↑ Foust, Jeff (31 May 2019). "NASA awards contracts to three companies to land payloads on the moon". Space News. Retrieved 26 November 2022.
- ↑ "NASA Expands Plans for Moon Exploration: More Missions, More Science". NASA. April 30, 2018. Archived from the original on February 16, 2020. Retrieved June 4, 2018.
- ↑ "CLPS: NASA's commercial Moon landing missions". The Planetary Society. Retrieved 2024-04-24.
