NASA Ends VIPER Project
NASA discontinues VIPER project due to cost increases and delays, repurposing its components for future Moon missions like PRIME-1. Despite this, NASA remains committed to lunar exploration through alternative methods.
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NASA has decided to end its VIPER (Volatiles Investigating Polar Exploration Rover) project due to cost increases, delays, and the risk of future cost growth. Originally planned for a late 2023 launch, VIPER's readiness date was pushed to September 2025, leading to concerns about increased costs impacting other missions. NASA will repurpose VIPER's instruments and components for future Moon missions and seek alternative methods to achieve its goals, such as the Polar Resources Ice Mining Experiment-1 (PRIME-1) scheduled for the fourth quarter of 2024. The agency plans to use instruments from VIPER for future Moon landings and incorporate mobile observations of volatiles in crewed missions. Despite discontinuing VIPER, NASA remains committed to lunar exploration through its CLPS program and upcoming missions to study the Moon's resources. Interested parties can express their interest in using VIPER's rover system by contacting NASA. Astrobotic will proceed with its Griffin Mission One without VIPER, focusing on a flight demonstration of the Griffin lander and its engines.
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