NASA scraps $450m Viper rover mission to save $84m

The NASA agency has announced the conclusion of its project to send the Viper rover to the Moon. Calculations indicate that this decision will save approximately $84 million, though the costs incurred for the entire undertaking are significantly higher.

According to estimates, NASA has spent around $450 million on the Viper (Volatiles Investigating Polar Exploration Rover) project, not including costs related to launch preparations. The decision to cancel this program aims to save $84 million, which would have been allocated for further development.

Viper was supposed to land near the Moon's south pole and spend 100 days searching for ice deposits. Initially, the rover was scheduled for launch at the end of 2023. However, delays and supply chain issues pushed the launch date to 2025. At that time, it was anticipated that Viper would fly aboard the Astrobotic Griffin lander as part of NASA's Commercial Lunar Payload Services (CLPS) initiative.

Ultimately, NASA has decided to dismantle Viper. The rover's components will be used in future Moon missions. Before dismantling, the agency will consider transferring some elements to American industrial firms and international companies interested in acquiring the rover.

NASA assures that the cancellation of the Viper project will not affect the implementation of other projects related to the exploration of the Moon. The Prime-1 mission (Polar Resources Ice Mining Experiment-1) is scheduled to land on the Moon in the fourth quarter of 2024. Its goal is also to search for ice and measure the volatile content of subsurface materials.

It's worth noting that these are not the first changes NASA has introduced this year. According to the portal space.com, the agency announced it was seeking new concepts for the Mars Sample Return program in April. The original goal of this program was to fly to Mars and bring soil samples back to Earth before 2040. However, the initial plan was deemed too labor-intensive and time-consuming. Cuts also affect the funding for the Chandra X-ray telescope, which has been reduced from $41.1 million in 2025 to just $5.2 million in 2029.

NASA's recent decisions are related to a budget reduction of $1 billion in 2025. The decision to cancel the Viper project was announced a few days before the 55th anniversary of the Apollo 11 mission. As part of this mission, on July 20, 1969, Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin landed on the Moon.