In 2023, SpaceX plans to launch a payload to the moon, with its larger (and less commonly used) Falcon Heavy launch vehicle. NASA’s VIPER, or Volatiles Investigating Polar Exploration Rover, will be carried on the mission by a lander designed by space startup Astrobotic.
The launch is currently scheduled for later this year, and if everything goes according to plan, this will be Falcon Heavy’s first moon flight. It will not, however, be SpaceX’s first trip to the moon; the company has scheduled missions to launch lunar landers for Masten and Intuitive Machines as early as 2022. Those, too, will use Falcon 9 rockets, at least according to current mission specifications. Furthermore, all of the above timelines have so far only existed on paper, and delays and schedule shifts are far from uncommon in the space business.
However, since this project is vital to all concerned, it is likely to be given top priority. It’s a crucial project in NASA’s Artemis programme, which aims to return humans to the moon and ultimately create a more permanent scientific presence on the surface and in orbit. Part of the process of building a surface station would include the use of in-situ tools, one of which will be water.
Last year, Astrobotic was awarded the contract to produce VIPER on NASA’s behalf. Landing the payload on the lunar South Pole, which is the proposed landing area for NASA’s Artemis missions involving human astronauts, is part of the mission profile. The extra space needed to accommodate the VIPER on the Peregrine lander necessitated the use of SpaceX’s heavier-lift Falcon Heavy launch vehicle.
NASA’s ambitious aim of returning astronauts to the moon by 2024, is in jeopardy as the new administration considers deadlines and budgets, but it remains committed to using public-private partnerships to pave the way, once that goal is met. This mission, as well as an earlier planned Peregrine landing, is part of NASA’s Commercial Lunar Payload Services (CLPS) programme, which pursued private sector partners to develop and deliver lunar landers with NASA as a single customer.
Gillies, Griffin Mission 1’s Astrobotic Boss, previously served at SpaceX, as a mission integrator for the STP-2 Falcon Heavy launch. He said, “Having sat on the other side of the table as a former SpaceX project manager, I am well aware of SpaceX’s capabilities and processes and am excited to be collaborating with SpaceX on a mission once again.”
