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| Attribute | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Operator | Blue Origin | Astrobotic | CNSA |
| Prime contractor | Blue Origin (with Lockheed Martin, Boeing, Draper, Astrobotic, Honeybee Robotics on prime team) | Astrobotic | China Academy of Space Technology (CAST) |
| Status | In development | In development | In development |
| Customer | NASA-HLS | NASA-CLPS | CNSA |
| Launch date | 2030 (NET — Artemis V crewed); uncrewed demo 2027 | 2026-07 (NET) | 2026-08 (NET) |
| Landing date | — | — | — |
| Landing site | Lunar south pole — 30-day surface stays | Lunar south pole region | Shackleton crater illuminated rim, lunar south pole |
| Payload | 20 t reusable / 30 t one-way to surface; crew 2-4 for up to 30 days (2026-01-04) | Venturi Astrolab FLIP rover + mass-simulator + secondary payloads (2026-05-28) | 18 science payloads across orbiter, lander, rover, mini-hopper, and Queqiao-2 (2026-05-28) |
| Contract value | $3.4B (2023-05-19) | $199.5M (2020-06-11) | — |
| Outcome | Selected May 2023 as second HLS provider for sustained Artemis-era lunar operations. Full-scale prototype delivered to NASA Johnson Space Center in early 2026 for astronaut training. Completed third pressurized suit-test campaign with NASA Johnson's Active Response Gravity Offload System (ARGOS). | NASA cancelled VIPER July 2024 citing cost overruns; saved ~$84M vs ~$104M completion cost. Astrobotic retained the lander demonstration task. Mission slipped from late 2025 to NET July 2026. FLIP rover (Venturi Astrolab) selected as replacement manifest. | China's first dedicated lunar south-pole prospecting mission. Mini-flying probe hops into permanently shadowed regions to sample for water-ice volatiles. Italian laser retroreflector aboard the lander. |
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Underlying dataset: GET /api/moon/landers. Methodology: /moon/methodology.