NASA announced a suite of contracts and mission updates on Saturday to support its Moon Base exploration campaign at the lunar South Pole.
Cargo landers and commercial delivery
NASA selected eight companies under its new Commercial Lunar Payload Services 2 (CLPS 2) framework to compete for future deliveries to the lunar surface. The selected companies include Blue Origin, Firefly Aerospace, Intuitive Machines, ispace-U.S., Lockheed Martin Space, Northrop Grumman Space Systems, SpaceX, and Voyager Technologies.
The CLPS 2 framework is structured as a 10-year, multiple-award, indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity master contract with a combined maximum value of $10 billion. NASA also increased the value of its existing CLPS 1.0 contract from $2.6 billion to $4.2 billion, extending deliveries under that award through November 2033.
Nuclear rover and delivery contract
The agency announced the development of the Polar Rover for Observation, Mapping, and In-Situ Exploration (PROMISE), a six-wheeled, nuclear-powered rover designed to explore the Moon's South Pole. Built by the Jet Propulsion Laboratory using spare parts and engineering models from the Curiosity and Perseverance Mars rovers, PROMISE is intended to operate during lunar nights and within permanently shadowed regions.
NASA is targeting late 2028 to launch the rover on a planned 18-month mission. NASA awarded Blue Origin a $94 million base contract, with a performance-based option period worth an additional $140 million, to deliver PROMISE to the surface using its Mark 1 lander.
Transportation and surface infrastructure
NASA also awarded six task orders under the Venture-Class Acquisition of Dedicated and Rideshare (VADR) contract, worth approximately $1.3 billion combined, to Arrow Science and Technology, Blue Origin, and Impulse Space. The missions will demonstrate orbital transfer vehicle capabilities, communications, navigation, and surface surveying using MoonFall drones.
Additionally, NASA selected SpaceX under an existing lunar logistics contract to launch communications satellites aboard a Starship in 2028 for the Cislunar Communications Deployment Demonstration. For lunar surface infrastructure, NASA awarded contracts to Honeybee Robotics, Redwire, and Yank Technologies to supply components for the Mini-Communications and Solar Tower (miniCAST).
Key facts and where they come from
- NASA selected eight commercial companies under the CLPS 2 master contract framework.
The CLPS 2 framework is a 10-year, multiple-award, indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity master contract with a combined maximum value of $10 billion.
- Blue Origin was awarded a contract to deliver the nuclear-powered PROMISE rover to the Moon.
NASA awarded Blue Origin a $94 million base contract, with an option period worth an additional $140 million based on performance to deliver PROMISE to the lunar South Pole.
- NASA is targeting a launch in late 2028 for the PROMISE lunar rover.
NASA is targeting late 2028 to launch PROMISE and planning an 18-month mission for the rover.
- NASA awarded six VADR transportation task orders valued at roughly $1.3 billion combined.
The task orders have a value of approximately $1.3 billion combined and fall under the 10-year VADR indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract
