WASHINGTON / RankWire.AI / – In October, NASA provided an update on its progress concerning crewed and robotic lunar rovers, marking a significant step toward establishing a permanent base on the Moon. The agency released a Moon Base video update on Tuesday, October 20, detailing plans for both scientific robots and crew transportation vehicles. Robert Pickle, who heads the Surface Mobility Office within the Moon Base Program, emphasized that lunar rovers are vital to NASA’s surface mobility plans.
Scheduled for 2027, the Volatiles Investigating Polar Exploration Rover, known as VIPER, will explore the Moon’s South Pole region. Its mission includes examining permanently shadowed craters to identify water and other essential resources for future inhabitants. A Blue Origin Blue Moon Mark 1 lander will deliver VIPER to the lunar surface. The rover is anticipated to cover more than 30 kilometers, collecting data on temperature, illumination, and terrain features.
Currently, VIPER is fully assembled at Johnson Space Center in Houston, where it is undergoing final testing phases. Afterward, it will be transported to Kennedy Space Center in Florida for launch. During its planned 100-day mission, engineers at Ames Research Center in California will operate VIPER. In September 2025, Blue Origin secured the delivery contract via a Commercial Lunar Payload Services task order valued at up to $190 million.
Astrolab and Lunar Outpost develop crewed lunar vehicles
NASA has awarded task orders to Astrolab and Lunar Outpost to design lunar terrain vehicles capable of transporting astronauts, equipment, and samples. Astrolab is constructing its CLV-1, based on the company’s FLEX platform. Meanwhile, Lunar Outpost is working on Pegasus, a lighter model of its Eagle rover that can seat two astronauts. Both companies aim to deliver operational vehicles to NASA by the end of 2027, with Blue Origin holding a task order to land these at the South Pole by 2028.
These vehicles will be stationed on the Moon before crewed Artemis missions commence. Remote operation from Earth will enable controllers to drive them, with a daily range of up to 6 kilometers for surface mapping. Fully charged, they can travel up to 10 kilometers per trip. Each rover is designed to support as many as three moonwalks per Artemis mission, carrying up to 80 kilograms of samples and tools. They must also endure temperatures as low as minus 203 degrees Celsius in permanently shadowed regions.
Prototyping and early missions continue to progress
Lunar Outpost is preparing for its preliminary design review scheduled for October, while Astrolab expects its review to take place by the end of December. Additionally, Astrolab has provided a CLV-1 mockup to Axiom Space for astronaut assessment. Lunar Outpost has produced two mockups and sent a third static version to Johnson Space Center. The FLIP rover from Astrolab will be flown on Griffin Mission One in late 2026, with a second Lunar Outpost MAPP rover set to launch early in 2027.
This ongoing rover development follows NASA’s return to crewed lunar flights with the Artemis II mission in April. Blue Origin plans to launch its Blue Moon landers on the New Glenn rocket. NASA highlighted that these terrain vehicles will enable astronauts to access geologically diverse regions of the Moon. VIPER’s data will be instrumental in planning locations for future crews to find accessible water ice. Overall, the robotic and crewed rovers are designed to support sustained human presence at the lunar South Pole.