NASA’s CLPS 2 widens the mission set for commercial lunar delivery
NASA’s Moon Base plans call for steady delivery of power, habitation, mobility and science to the lunar surface. Prerequisites to any future plans are repeatable, reliable lunar landings and technology and infrastructure that can withstand the harsh lunar environment for the long-haul. Commercial landers are how the agency intends to meet that demand, highlighted by the announcement of the next phase of its Commercial Lunar Payload Services (CLPS) initiative.
NASA selected Voyager as a vendor under the new CLPS Multiple Award Contract (CLPS 2). The selection onboards the company into the next-generation vendor pool and makes it eligible to compete for NASA lunar mission task orders through 2036 under a $10 billion base ceiling. The contract has an option to extend to 2041 with an increased ceiling of $15 billion.
“We won four lunar missions under CLPS 1, and CLPS 2 sustains that execution,” said Dylan Taylor, Chairman & CEO, Voyager. “Voyager is building the repeatable delivery, power and infrastructure to make the Moon the next operational domain, and with this selection, we have the opportunity to develop even further.”
The Foundation
Voyager’s Lunar Systems, formerly Astrobotic, is one of the original CLPS vendors, dating back to 2019. Under that contract, the company was awarded four lunar mission contracts, including Griffin Mission 1 (Griffin-1). The mission recently completed acceptance testing and is on track to launch to the lunar South Pole in January 2027 with the largest commercial payload ever delivered to the lunar surface. The 10 payloads aboard include five NASA payloads, Astrolab’s FLIP rover and Voyager’s own CubeRover.
“Griffin-1 is the largest lander CLPS has launched to date,” said John Thornton, executive vice president, Lunar Systems, Voyager. “It has the capacity to deliver mission-critical infrastructure — habitation, power and mobility — at the volume and tempo NASA’s plans require.”
Beyond Griffin-1’s demonstration of Voyager’s capability to land an infrastructure-class lander on the lunar surface, the payloads aboard Griffin seek to traverse the lunar landscape and gather data, understand the risks posed to equipment and space craft by lunar dust, and improve landing precision and safety.
Two additional lunar lander missions are scheduled to launch in 2028. Available payload space remains for commercial, government, academic or international customers aboard both missions, but three NASA payloads are already on the manifest: Linear Energy Transfer Spectrometer payload will monitor the lunar radiation environment, Stereo Cameras for Lunar Plume Surface Studies camera system will observe how engine exhaust interacts with the lunar surface during descent and Laser Retroreflector Array will serve as a permanent optical reference point for future missions.
Where We Go Next
Building on the missions already announced and the work that is and will continue to be done, being named a CLPS 2 vendor begins the next chapter of Voyager delivering America’s Moon Base.
“A base will depend on repeatable lunar missions,” said Thornton. “CLPS 2’s planned multi-lander procurement task orders would help develop our landers beyond the flight time and experience they’ve already accrued.”
Voyager offers a smaller launch vehicle, available for safe and affordable lunar delivery for small-scale payloads; whereas Griffin’s larger size makes it a moving truck for the Moon, able to carry larger payloads and infrastructure the base will need.
Nothing happens in the long-term without power, which is why Voyager designed LunaGrid, a system of solar-based power systems to electrify the Moon Base. LunaGrid can be integrated on a single launch vehicle and delivered to the Moon where it will deploy vertical solar arrays to generate and store electrical power for customers on the surface. From there, that power is delivered to surface assets like habitats and science instruments through wireless chargers and tethered CubeRovers. Survive-the-night missions under CLPS 2 will test the capabilities of the equipment, subsystems and space vehicles needed to deliver and mobilize an asset like LunaGrid to withstand the freezing, two-week-long lunar night where temperatures can drop to below negative 200 degrees.
These are two examples of what CLPS 2 could help prove out, but the possibilities go on. Each system tested and capability developed informs the next mission and enables humanity’s future on the Moon.
“We’re already proving out what commercial companies can contribute to America’s plans in space through current CLPS missions,” said Taylor. “CLPS 2 solidifies the collaborative role between NASA and commercial companies in building the Moon Base and accelerates what Voyager can deliver.”