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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 | Astrobotic | Blue Origin |
| Prime contractor | China Academy of Space Technology (CAST) | Astrobotic | Blue Origin |
| Status | In development | In development | In development |
| Customer | CNSA | NASA-CLPS | NASA-CLPS |
| Launch date | 2026-08 (NET) | 2026-07 (NET) | — |
| Landing date | — | — | — |
| Landing site | Shackleton crater illuminated rim, lunar south pole | Lunar south pole region | Lunar south pole (VIPER traverse site) |
| Payload | 18 science payloads across orbiter, lander, rover, mini-hopper, and Queqiao-2 (2026-05-28) | Venturi Astrolab FLIP rover + mass-simulator + secondary payloads (2026-05-28) | VIPER rover (~430 kg dry) (2025-09-19) |
| Contract value | — | $199.5M (2020-06-11) | $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 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. | 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. |
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Underlying dataset: GET /api/moon/landers. Methodology: /moon/methodology.