Overview
- Three U.S. firms — Astrobotic, Firefly Aerospace and Intuitive Machines — won contracts that NASA announced on June 30 totaling about $590–600 million to fund four CLPS lander missions targeted for late 2028.
- Each lander will carry the same three NASA instruments — SCALPSS to image engine-plume effects on dust, a Laser Retroreflector Array for precise surface positioning, and a Linear Energy Transfer Spectrometer to measure local radiation levels — to build a distributed operational dataset.
- NASA directed contractors to fly upgraded, previously flown lander designs and to incorporate explicit lessons learned after mixed CLPS results that included a 2024 propulsion failure and earlier lander tip-overs.
- Agency officials said they are evaluating repurposing PROMISE, a JPL engineering rover powered by an RTG, because its nuclear power would let it map and prospect inside dark craters and operate through long lunar nights.
- Schedule risk remains because Blue Origin’s May New Glenn accident damaged launch infrastructure and could delay some missions, so NASA is seeking alternative launch options and soliciting additional power, imaging and relay systems to sustain an accelerated launch cadence.