NASA Advances Pursuit of Industry Ally for VIPER Rover

NASA Advances Pursuit of Industry Ally for VIPER Rover
by Clarence Oxford
Los Angeles CA (SPX) Feb 04, 2025

NASA has revealed a new call for American proposals that outline a public/private partnership to land and operate the agency's VIPER (Volatiles Investigating Polar Exploration Rover) mission on the Moon. This initiative aligns with NASA's Artemis campaign and showcases U.S. industry prowess in detecting water ice on the lunar surface while collecting key scientific data.

The Announcement for Partnership Proposal introduces procedural instructions and evaluation metrics for a Lunar Volatiles Science Partnership, with responses due by Thursday, Feb. 20. Following the initial review, selected candidates must submit a more comprehensive proposal, and NASA expects to finalize its decision on the VIPER mission this summer.

"Moving forward with a VIPER partnership offers NASA a unique opportunity to engage with the private sector," said Nicky Fox, associate administrator in the Science Mission Directorate at NASA Headquarters in Washington. "Such a partnership provides the opportunity for NASA to collect VIPER science that could tell us more about water on the Moon, while advancing commercial lunar landing capabilities and resource prospecting possibilities."

This latest request follows an Aug. 9, 2024, Request for Information that sought expressions of interest from American businesses and institutions to carry out a project using NASA's VIPER rover after the program was canceled in July 2024. NASA intends to form a Cooperative Research and Development Agreement in which both the agency and an industry collaborator would contribute hardware, technology, and services.

Under any resulting agreement, NASA will provide the VIPER rover in its current state. Partners must integrate and land the vehicle on the Moon, conduct science and exploration activities, and distribute data generated by VIPER. The rover's instruments cannot be separated from the mission, and NASA will prioritize proposals that facilitate wide public access to VIPER's science findings.

"Being selected for the VIPER partnership would benefit any company interested in advancing their lunar landing and surface operations capabilities," said Joel Kearns, deputy associate administrator for exploration in the Science Mission Directorate. "This solicitation seeks proposals that clearly describe what is needed to successfully land and operate the rover, and invites industry to propose their own complementary science goals and approaches. NASA is looking forward to partnering with U.S. industry to meet the challenges of performing volatiles science in the lunar environment."