As much as NASA looks at the moon, there is much to be learned from the Moon landing

“What we see in CLPS 1.0 is the ability to buy more blocks,” Seyffert said. “So we’re looking forward to seeing that in CLPS 2.0.”

Blue Origin is a player in both the CLPS and Human Landing System programs, with a payload called a pathfinder. Perseverance will fly to the Moon later this year. It will help pave the way for the pilot to use NASA on future Artemis missions.

“The development (of the carrier) is done,” Seyffert said. “We have a very good test. We will fly it at the end of this year, and then we will make it possible to print more people to find space to help NASA achieve its goals.”

Astrobotic, which failed on its first mission to the Moon and is now building a large lander on its second attempt, also supports the idea of ​​block purchases.

“I’m very excited to use a finished product and be able to use it again and again,” said Dan Hendrickson, vice president of business development at Astrobotic. “I think one of the challenges that we face is the well-known culture, sometimes, of the mission. If we try to maintain some of these types of cars again and again, I think we will get the benefit of the blood, sweat, and tears that helped us to work and overcome some technical problems that were great.”

Intuitive Machines’ Athena lander lands on the surface of the moon on March 6, 2025. The spacecraft skids and crashes.

Like Astrobotic, Intuitive Machines is planning a heavier vehicle after flying a small vehicle on its first trips to the Moon. Its next mission, IM-3, is expected to be launched later this year in line with the first principle of the lunar constellation. Intuitive Machines is looking to return to its first two CLPS services, where the company’s regulars jumped ship after a hit.

“I think what you’re going to see is a landscape that’s changing a little bit more like a Model T Ford,” said Ben Bussey, chief scientist at Intuitive Machines.

Firefly Aerospace nailed its first attempt to land on the Moon last year. Its Blue Ghost lander sent back scientific data from the surface for 14 days before crashing into the dark night of the moon. Firefly’s second Blue Ghost lander is expected to be launched later this year, using the same design as the first, but with satellites for data transmission to land on the far side of the Moon.

Firefly is expanding the capacity of its Texas factory to handle more passengers and transfer vehicles. The first trip to the Moon with the Blue Ghost lander was launched in January 2025, less than four years after NASA awarded the contract to Firefly, a “historic moment” for commercial lunar missions, said Farah Zuberi, the company’s director of the spacecraft mission management.

“The bottom line is that with this project, the NASA CLPS model did what it was supposed to do, which made it possible to have a reliable lunar landing at a lower cost and time,” said Zuberi.

Now it’s up to NASA’s other CLPS sponsors to show they can reach the Moon, and all of them.– including Firefly-he has to prove that he can do it again and again. NASA and its contractors must cut Firefly’s four-year lead time in half to get it to the moon over the next two years.

NASA will take a more straightforward approach with the next line of CLPS regulations. “When you build, we need to hear the things that are slowing you down, and we will try to help you with these things,” Carlos Garcia-Galan, head of NASA’s Moon program, told CLPS industry representatives at the LSIC meeting last week.