NASA Seeks Partners for VIPER Moon Rover Mission after Halting Solo Project

NASA is seeking to engage American companies and institutions in utilizing its VIPER (Volatiles Investigating Polar Exploration Rover) Moon rover, as part of its commitment to sustainable lunar exploration that benefits a broad spectrum of scientific and research endeavors. The space agency issued a Request for Information (RFI) on July 17, after revealing its decision to discontinue the solo VIPER project, shifting its focus to other methods to confirm the presence of frozen water at the lunar South Pole.

VIPER's primary mission was designed to survey the lunar South Pole, with particular attention to mapping the location and concentration of potential resources such as water ice. This initiative was aimed at paving the way for future human and robotic exploration of the Moon and potentially utilizing in-situ resources.

Following the initial announcement, NASA welcomed interest from the wider community until August 1, with the recently issued RFI furthering this initiative. It aims to gather detailed input from interested parties on how they would leverage the VIPER rover for lunar exploration at minimal to no cost to the government, thus fulfilling the agency's science and exploration goals.

Nicola Fox, the associate administrator for the Science Mission Directorate at NASA Headquarters in Washington, expressed gratitude for the community's interest and eagerness to learn about the prospective partner's visions. Fox emphasized the goal to maximize the returns from the engineering, technology, and expertise developed in the VIPER project, while ensuring that it does not disrupt NASA's upcoming schedule of commercial deliveries to the Moon.

The inclusion of VIPER into future-commercially facilitated lunar missions under the Commercial Lunar Payload Services (CLPS) initiative, as well as integration into planned crewed voyages, will contribute to ongoing efforts to study volatiles in the South Pole region. These endeavors underpin NASA's larger mandate for lunar science and exploration.

The RFI, which is available online, posed an opportunity exclusively for U.S. organizations and industry players. However, NASA mentioned that it intends to explore international interest through other means. This approach underscores the desire to involve a wide range of contributors to the lunar exploration program.

Responses to the RFI were open until 11:59 p.m. EDT on Monday, Sep. 2. With NASA seeking cost-effective partnerships, interested parties have an exceptional chance to collaborate with the space agency on its lunar exploration journey while benefiting from the cutting-edge technology and groundwork laid by the VIPER program.