NASA's VIPER rover might still reach the lunar surface after all

Intuitive Machines tosses hat into the ring for NASA's canceled trundlebot

Intuitive Machines has submitted a bid to save NASA's VIPER rover, describing the $84 million savings claimed by the US space agency when cutting it as "a government number."

NASA issued a Request for Information (RFI) at the end of last week to seek interest from US companies keen to conduct a mission with the canceled trundlebot.

This RFI came in the wake of the US space agency's decision to axe the project in light of rising costs. The rover itself was complete, but NASA warned that the project required more money and reckoned it could save a minimum of $84 million by removing VIPER from the budget.

The agency invited expressions of interest, and on August 9, NASA issued an RFI to obtain more details from interested parties, with the proviso that the plans would incur "minimal to no cost to the government."

Enter Intuitive Machines, which made the first successful commercial landing on the Moon earlier this year.

Admittedly, "successful" is doing a bit of work there – the Odysseus lander made it down intact, but ended up on its side. However, it was still able to generate power via its solar panels and perform science.

During the company's Q2 2024 earnings call on August 13, Steve Altemus, CEO of Intuitive Machines, told analysts that the company, in partnership with other companies, universities, and international agencies, had proposed using the company's Nova-D lander, which is still in development, to transport VIPER to the lunar surface.

According to Altemus, Nova-D can carry 1,500 kg to a soft landing on the Moon. VIPER weighs approximately 500 kg, leaving plenty of excess payload capacity for Intuitive Machines to sell.

Altemus was somewhat vague about costs, noting that NASA was going to complete thermal vacuum testing of the rover - "a cost we won't have to cover" — but added that operating the instruments on the Moon would require further investment, possibly from NASA.

He added: "I don't think the $84 million budget left to go is actually real in terms of what we would do commercially. That's a government number; that's not a commercial number."

"I would want to take key members from the build team and the science team and have them join our team to help us operate on the surface."

At the time of the rover's cancellation, NASA was planning for a 2025 lunar landing. Altemus told analysts that VIPER wouldn't reach the Moon before 2027 if the bid was successful.

It's all bold stuff and by no means a sure thing. And then there is the question of Intuitive Machines' financial stability. While it reported a more than doubling of revenue to $41.4 million for Q2 2024 compared to the same period last year, it noted that losses had also more than doubled, standing at $28.2 million. The company said this was "driven primarily by the completion of the IM-1 mission and the noncash impact of changes in estimates associated with NASA CLPS contract modifications."

Still, after the gloom surrounding the cancellation of VIPER, there are glimmers of hope that the rover might yet grace the lunar surface rather than be sacrificed for parts or shipped to a museum. ®