NASA announced on Wednesday its decision to discontinue the development of the VIPER (Volatiles Investigating Polar Exploration Rover) project following a thorough internal review.
The agency cited cost increases, delays to the launch date, and the potential for future cost escalations as primary reasons for halting the mission.
Originally slated for launch in late 2023, the VIPER mission was delayed to late 2024 to allow more time for preflight testing of the Astrobotic lander. However, further schedule and supply chain delays pushed VIPER’s readiness to September 2025.
Concurrently, the launch of VIPER aboard Astrobotic’s Griffin lander under NASA’s CLPS (Commercial Lunar Payload Services) program was also delayed to a similar timeframe. NASA determined that continuing with VIPER would lead to increased costs that could jeopardize other CLPS missions. Congress has been notified of the agency’s decision.
“We are committed to studying and exploring the Moon for the benefit of humanity through the CLPS program,” said Nicola Fox, associate administrator of NASA’s Science Mission Directorate. “The agency has an array of missions planned to look for ice and other resources on the Moon over the next five years. Our path forward will make maximum use of the technology and work that went into VIPER, while preserving critical funds to support our robust lunar portfolio.”
NASA is exploring alternative methods to achieve many of VIPER’s objectives, including verifying the presence of ice at the lunar South Pole. A forthcoming CLPS delivery, the Polar Resources Ice Mining Experiment-1 (PRIME-1), is scheduled to land at the South Pole in the fourth quarter of 2024. PRIME-1 will search for water ice and perform a resource utilization demonstration using a drill and mass spectrometer to measure the volatile content of subsurface materials.
Additionally, instruments as part of NASA’s crewed missions, such as the Lunar Terrain Vehicle, will enable mobile observations of volatiles across the south polar region. This will provide access for astronauts to the Moon’s permanently shadowed regions for dedicated sample return missions. The agency also plans to use copies of three of VIPER’s four instruments on separate future Moon landings.
VIPER was designed to search Earth’s Moon for ice and other potential resources, supporting NASA’s commitment to lunar exploration and unraveling the mysteries of our solar system. Through initiatives like Artemis and CLPS, NASA aims to explore more of the Moon than ever before using advanced robotics, U.S. commercial providers, and international partners.
