NASA's Moon Base rovers: VIPER ready, crewed LTVs due end of 2027

NASA has given a progress update on the rovers for its Moon Base, the outpost it plans near the lunar South Pole. One robotic rover is built and close to shipping, and two companies are racing to finish crewed "lunar terrain vehicles" (LTVs) that will first drive themselves, remotely controlled from Earth, before astronauts arrive.

VIPER: built, testing, flying in 2027

VIPER (Volatiles Investigating Polar Exploration Rover) is fully built and in final testing at NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston. Next it moves to Kennedy Space Center for launch in 2027 on a Blue Moon Mark 1 lander. On the Moon it should drive more than 30 km, venturing into permanently shadowed craters to look for water and other resources a long-term base could use. Mission control will sit at NASA Ames in Silicon Valley, where teams are already rehearsing scenarios.

Crewed rovers from Astrolab and Lunar Outpost

NASA picked Astrolab and Lunar Outpost to build the first phase of crew-carrying LTVs, and Blue Origin to deliver them to the South Pole region by 2028. Before crews land, the rovers will be driven from Earth for up to 6 km a day, mapping terrain and testing how they cope with shadowed areas as cold as minus 203°C. With astronauts aboard, NASA says each LTV can support up to three moonwalks per mission, carry up to 80 kg of samples and tools, and travel up to 10 km per charge.

• Astrolab CLV-1, derived from its FLEX design. NASA astronauts in mock Artemis suits have evaluated a mock-up at Axiom Space. A small robotic precursor, FLIP, rides on Voyager Technologies' Griffin Mission One, due in late 2026, to test tyres, batteries, radios and cameras.
• Lunar Outpost Pegasus, a lighter evolution of its Eagle LTV. A third static mock-up was tested by suited astronauts at Johnson. The company's MAPP rover already operated at the South Pole in 2025, and a second MAPP is set for early 2027.

Both teams head to NASA Glenn in the coming weeks to test their wheels on simulated lunar soil: Astrolab's flexible airless wheels and Pegasus' spring-mesh tyres.

The update comes as Europe also reshapes its lunar plans, with ESA's Lunar Link cleared for flight while Gateway is paused. Want to see the South Pole region for yourself? It's not visible in detail from Earth, but our beginner telescope guide will get you great views of the rest of the Moon.