NASA’s VIPER lunar rover could be delivered to the moon by Blue Origin, Jeff Bezos’ aerospace company. The US space agency has awarded the company a task order to design a delivery plan for the rover, with a future delivery option.
The award, worth $190 million, was issued through NASA’s Commercial Lunar Payload Services (CLPS) program, which the agency is using to buy delivery services to the moon from private companies. The award does not directly imply a delivery agreement; first, NASA will verify whether Blue Origin is capable of successfully sending the expensive VIPER rover to the moon’s south pole. To be eligible to take on the VIPER delivery,