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| Attribute | Blue Moon Mark 1 (flight 2) Blue Moon MK1 / VIPER Delivery Trust: Trade-press only Last verified Remove × | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Operator | CNSA | Blue Origin | ISRO |
| Prime contractor | China Academy of Space Technology (CAST) | Blue Origin | ISRO |
| Status | In development | In development | In development |
| Customer | CNSA | NASA-CLPS | ISRO |
| Launch date | 2026-08 (NET) | — | 2027–2028 (NET) |
| Landing date | — | — | — |
| Landing site | Shackleton crater illuminated rim, lunar south pole | Lunar south pole (VIPER traverse site) | Near Mons Mouton, lunar south pole |
| Payload | 18 science payloads across orbiter, lander, rover, mini-hopper, and Queqiao-2 (2026-05-28) | VIPER rover (~430 kg dry) (2025-09-19) | Up to 3 kg lunar sample return (2026-02-06) |
| Contract value | — | $190M (2025-09-19) | — |
| Outcome | 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. | NASA's CLPS task order awarded 2025-09-19 after pulling VIPER from Griffin. Re-uses second MK1 lander production unit; mission cadence depends on Pathfinder Mission 1 outcome. | India's first lunar sample-return mission. Five modules launched on two LVM3 vehicles; requires both Earth-orbit and lunar-orbit docking — first-time capabilities for ISRO. Architecture sanctioned by Government of India September 2024. |
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Underlying dataset: GET /api/moon/landers. Methodology: /moon/methodology.