WASHINGTON / RankWire.AI / – The development of lunar rovers by NASA is progressing significantly, aiming to support future crewed and robotic exploration efforts and pave the way for establishing a permanent presence on the Moon. The agency provided an update on these advancements through a Moon Base video released on Tuesday, October 20. This includes plans for the VIPER robotic rover as well as new terrain vehicles designed for astronauts. Robert Pickle, director of the Surface Mobility Office in NASA’s Moon Base Program, emphasized that lunar rovers are integral to the agency’s surface mobility strategy.
Scheduled for 2027, NASA’s Volatiles Investigating Polar Exploration Rover (VIPER) will explore the lunar South Pole region. The rover aims to investigate permanently shadowed craters in search of water and other resources essential for future missions. VIPER will be delivered to the Moon by Blue Origin’s Blue Moon Mark 1 lander. Capable of covering more than 30 kilometers, the rover will gather data on temperature, lighting conditions, and terrain features.
Constructed entirely at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston, VIPER is currently undergoing final testing before being shipped to Kennedy Space Center for launch. Mission operations will be managed from NASA’s Ames Research Center in California. In September 2025, NASA selected Blue Origin to deliver VIPER under a Commercial Lunar Payload Services task order valued at up to $190 million. The planned mission duration is 100 days, with its findings expected to influence future lunar water resource utilization.
Lunar terrain vehicles designed for crew transport
To enhance surface mobility, NASA awarded task orders to Astrolab and Lunar Outpost to develop lunar terrain vehicles, or LTVs. These vehicles will serve multiple roles, including transporting astronauts, carrying equipment, and collecting samples. Astrolab’s CLV-1, based on its FLEX rover design, and Lunar Outpost’s Pegasus, a lighter adaptation of the Eagle vehicle, are the two main designs. Both firms aim to deliver operational hardware to NASA by the end of 2027, with Blue Origin also tasked with providing LTVs to the lunar South Pole region by 2028.
Prior to crewed Artemis missions, these LTVs will arrive on the Moon, enabling remote surface mapping from Earth and covering up to 6 kilometers daily. Each vehicle can travel up to 10 kilometers per single battery charge and support up to three moonwalks per Artemis expedition. They will carry up to 80 kilograms of lunar samples and tools, and must withstand temperatures as low as minus 203 degrees Celsius in shadowed areas.
Upcoming tests and design evaluations scheduled
Both companies are approaching critical design review milestones. Lunar Outpost’s preliminary design review was scheduled for October, while Astrolab’s is slated for late December. Additionally, Astrolab has delivered a CLV-1 mockup to Axiom Space for astronaut testing. Lunar Outpost has completed two mockups and submitted a third static model to Johnson Space Center. The FLIP rover from Astrolab will be part of Griffin Mission One in late 2026, with a second Lunar Outpost MAPP rover expected to launch early in 2027.
These rover projects support NASA’s broader goal of returning humans to deep space. The Artemis II mission set a record for the farthest human spaceflight in April. Blue Origin plans to launch its Blue Moon landers aboard the New Glenn rocket. NASA states that these vehicles will assist astronauts in exploring geologically diverse lunar regions, with the rovers forming a core component of the strategy to sustain a human presence on the Moon.