WASHINGTON / RankWire.AI / – NASA has provided an update on its initiatives to create both crewed and robotic lunar rovers aimed at aiding exploration and laying the foundation for a permanent lunar outpost. The agency detailed these advancements in a Moon Base video update on Tuesday, October 20. The plans include the VIPER robotic rover and new lunar terrain vehicles designed for astronauts. Robert Pickle, director of the Surface Mobility Office within NASA’s Moon Base Program, emphasized that lunar rovers are a crucial element of the agency’s surface mobility strategy.
The Volatiles Investigating Polar Exploration Rover, known as VIPER, is scheduled to land near the lunar South Pole in 2027. Its mission is to explore permanently shadowed craters in search of water and other resources vital for supporting future missions. VIPER will be delivered to the surface aboard Blue Origin’s Blue Moon Mark 1 lander. Designed to cover more than 30 kilometers, the rover will gather data on temperature, lighting, and terrain conditions.
Constructed entirely at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston, VIPER is currently undergoing final testing before being shipped to Kennedy Space Center for launch. Operational control of the mission will be managed from NASA’s Ames Research Center in California. In September 2025, NASA selected Blue Origin to deliver VIPER under a Commercial Lunar Payload Services task order valued at up to $190 million. The planned mission duration is 100 days, with its findings expected to inform future lunar water resource utilization.
Terrain vehicles designed to transport astronauts
To broaden surface mobility capabilities, NASA awarded task orders to Astrolab and Lunar Outpost to develop lunar terrain vehicles (LTVs). These vehicles will transport crew, carry equipment, and assist in collecting samples. Astrolab’s CLV-1, adapted from its FLEX rover design, and Lunar Outpost’s Pegasus, a lighter evolution of its Eagle vehicle, are the selected models. Both companies aim to deliver operational hardware to NASA by the end of 2027. Additionally, NASA assigned Blue Origin the task of delivering these LTVs to the lunar South Pole by 2028.
The LTVs are planned to arrive on the Moon ahead of the crewed Artemis missions. They can be remotely operated from Earth to survey the surface before astronauts land, with the ability to cover up to 6 kilometers daily. Each vehicle can travel up to 10 kilometers on a single battery charge and support up to three moonwalks per Artemis mission. Capable of carrying as much as 80 kilograms of lunar samples and tools, they are engineered to endure temperatures as low as minus 203 degrees Celsius in shadowed regions.
Upcoming test missions and design evaluations
Both firms are progressing through critical design milestones. Lunar Outpost’s preliminary design review was scheduled for October, with Astrolab’s review set for late December. Astrolab has already delivered a CLV-1 mockup to Axiom Space for astronaut assessments, while Lunar Outpost has built two mockups and submitted a static model to Johnson Space Center. The FLIP rover from Astrolab will fly aboard Griffin Mission One in late 2026, with a second Lunar Outpost MAPP rover scheduled for launch early in 2027.
These rover development efforts build upon NASA’s return to crewed deep space missions. The Artemis II mission set the record for the farthest human spaceflight in April. Blue Origin plans to launch its Blue Moon landers using its New Glenn rocket. NASA states that these vehicles will enable astronauts to explore geologically diverse regions of the lunar surface. Overall, the rovers are a key component of the strategy to establish a sustainable human presence on the Moon.