Pick up to 4 vehicles to compare side-by-side. State lives in the URL — share the link and the comparison loads exactly as you left it. No JavaScript required.
| Attribute | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Operator | Astrobotic | ISRO | SpaceX |
| Prime contractor | Astrobotic | ISRO | SpaceX |
| Status | In development | In development | In development |
| Customer | NASA-CLPS | ISRO | NASA-HLS |
| Launch date | 2026-07 (NET) | 2027–2028 (NET) | 2027 (NET — Artemis III) |
| Landing date | — | — | — |
| Landing site | Lunar south pole region | Near Mons Mouton, lunar south pole | Lunar south pole (NASA-curated candidate region near 84-90°S) |
| Payload | Venturi Astrolab FLIP rover + mass-simulator + secondary payloads (2026-05-28) | Up to 3 kg lunar sample return (2026-02-06) | ~100 tonnes to lunar surface (sustained variant target) (2024-04-16) |
| Contract value | $199.5M (2020-06-11) | — | $2.89B + $1.15B Option B = $4.04B total (2022-11-15) |
| Outcome | 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. | 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. | Selected April 2021 as sole HLS provider for Artemis III. Architecture requires Super Heavy launch + multiple Starship tanker refueling flights in LEO + transit to NRHO + rendezvous with Orion (SLS). NASA OIG IG-26-004 (March 2026) flagged crew-rescue capability as open risk. October 2025: NASA acting administrator Sean Duffy reopened Artemis III lander contract to competition due to Starship development pace. |
Pure URL state — no JavaScript, no localStorage, no cookies. The comparison renders entirely on the server from the slugs in the query string. Bookmark or share the URL and the comparison reproduces exactly.
Underlying dataset: GET /api/moon/landers. Methodology: /moon/methodology.