For the first time since 1972’s Apollo 17 mission, the U.S. is about to launch spacecraft that will attempt soft landings on the moon’s surface. But in a twist, these two uncrewed missions aren’t operated by NASA. Instead they’re run by private companies.
As soon as January 8, the Pittsburgh-based company Astrobotic will be on its way to the moon with a boxy lander called Peregrine. And on January 12 the Houston-based company Intuitive Machines will follow suit with its lander, called Nova-C. Combined, the missions will be flying about a dozen payloads on behalf of NASA, as well as other objects that include a physical Bitcoin and miniature sculptures by artist Jeff Koons.
The spacecraft are flying under the banner of NASA’s Commercial Lunar Payload Services (CLPS) initiative, which is encouraging private industry to take over the routine delivery of scientific instruments to the moon. Under CLPS (pronounced “clips”), companies own and operate lunar landers, and NASA pays a fixed price for the firms to ship the agency’s hardware. In 2019 NASA paid Astrobotic $79.5 million and Intuitive Machines $77 million for the companies’ imminent missions—a fraction of what it has spent on robotic landers in the past.
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