Commercial space companies are ready for the next stage of lunar exploration

Recently, some of the players in the Commercial Lunar Payload Services program met with the House Subcommittee on Space and Aeronautics, part of the House Science, Space and Technology Committee. The witnesses included representatives from NASA administration, Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory, Astrobotic Technology, Intuitive Machines and Firefly Aerospace.

Intuitive Machines made a “partially successful” lunar landing in March after a similar attempt in February 2024. Firefly Aerospace conducted an entirely successful lunar landing also in March 2025. Astrobotic failed its first lunar landing attempt in January 2024.

The hearing covered two main topics. The first was what to do with the NASA VIPER lunar rover. The second was a discussion of the possibility of a Commercial Lunar Payload Services 2.0.

VIPER, or Volatiles Investigating Polar Exploration Rover, was planned by NASA to be delivered by an Astrobotic Griffin lander to the moon’s south pole. It would trundle across the lunar surface with a drill and a suite of instruments, searching for ice.

NASA abruptly canceled the rover in July 2024, citing cost overruns. The VIPER is essentially finished and needs only some more testing before it is sent to the moon.

The decision elicited cries of outrage from both the scientific and commercial space communities. Some demanded that the project be revived through a commercial partnership. Intuitive Machines developed a plan to do just that, using one of its planned landers.

NASA finally put out some requests for proposals for plans to deliver the VIPER to the moon with a commercial partnership. The space agency stated that it will respond sometime in the summer of 2025.

Members of the subcommittee expressed exasperation with NASA’s decision to cancel VIPER, according to Space News. Nicola Fox, the associate administrator of NASA’s Science Mission Directorate, defended the decision, stating that moving forward with the lunar rover would have adversely affected the funding of several future Commercial Lunar Payload Services missions.

Brett W. Denevi, the principal staff scientist at Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory, expressed skepticism about the commercial partnership approach. 

“We should not expect VIPER science to happen by hoping that someone will offer to fly and operate it on their own dime,” he said. He stated that Congress must come up with the extra money lest China become the first country to prospect for water ice on the moon.

On the subject of Commercial Lunar Payload Services and its future, the three representatives of the commercial lunar lander companies were filled with praise for the program and would like more of the same. The current program lasts through 2028. A Commercial Lunar Payload Services 2.0 would continue and expand the program that has NASA helping to finance commercial moon landings.

Steve Altemus, president and CEO of Intuitive Machines, suggested that Commercial Lunar Payload Services 2.0. would start delivering “infrastructure” to the lunar surface. Infrastructure means habitats, rovers, power sources and everything else that would support the long-term exploration and development of the moon.

By 2028, if NASA's plans hold up, the Artemis III mission should have already taken place. A Human Landing System derived from the SpaceX Starship will have delivered two astronauts and their equipment to the lunar surface. With the Starship human landing systems’ ability to carry 100 to 150 metric tons to the moon, the first two moonwalkers since 1972 will have a lot of stuff coming with them.

The advent of the Starship human landing system could provide a lot of opportunities for commercial companies. It could be that Artemis III will leave behind robots provided by commercial companies to continue the work of the next moonwalkers when they leave the lunar surface.

The opportunity presented by the Starship human landing system depends on NASA following through with the Artemis return to the moon program and not pursuing the pivot to Mars that Elon Musk advocates. The moon is an opportunity for science, economic development and political soft power (i.e., beating China.)

Fortunately, Jared Isaacman, the billionaire entrepreneur who Trump nominated to be NASA administrator, has expressed his full support for a return to the moon before the end of the current presidential term. 

Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas), chairman of the Senate Commerce Committee that oversees NASA, agreed on X, stating, “The moon mission MUST happen in President Trump's term or else China will beat us there and build the first moonbase.”

Isaacman also noted during testimony at his confirmation hearings that while Mars is a priority, “Along the way, we will inevitably have the capabilities to return to the Moon and determine the scientific, economic, and national security benefits of maintaining a presence on the lunar surface.”

Commercial Lunar Payload Services companies can play a continuing role in the opening of the lunar frontier.

Mark R. Whittington, who writes frequently about space policy, has published a political study of space exploration entitled “Why is It So Hard to Go Back to the Moon?” as well as “The Moon, Mars and Beyond,” and, most recently, “Why is America Going Back to the Moon?” He blogs at Curmudgeons Corner.