NASA Commercial Lunar Payload Services

Stories

Astrobotic readies Griffin-1, its second try at landing on the Moon

As of July 2026: Three lander missions in flight prep under the Moon Base umbrella; awarded $590.4M to Astrobotic, Firefly Aerospace, and Intuitive Machines for four follow-on missions targeting 2028

Astrobotic is now Voyager Lunar Systems, rebranded after Voyager Technologies closed its acquisition on July 13. Griffin-1 is at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in California, where engineers are testing it against vibration, vacuum, and temperature extremes ahead of a November 2026 launch.

Updated Jul 13

First radio telescope heads to Moon's far side

New Capabilities

As of May 2026: Funding and managing commercial lunar deliveries

The cosmic Dark Ages were a 200-million-year stretch after the Big Bang — just hydrogen gas, no stars. No instrument has ever detected light from this period: Earth's atmosphere blocks the radio frequencies, and human electronics drown out the faint signals.

Updated May 23