Called CLPS for “Commercial Lunar Payload Services” (“Commercial Lunar Cargo Services”, in French), this program should only be used to transport equipment, not humans. However, he must help prepare the return of astronauts to the Moon, this time via NASA’s flagship lunar program, Artemis.
The philosophy: a public-private partnership
In 2018, NASA launched the CLPS (pronounced “clipse”) program using a new approach: instead of sending scientific instruments to the Moon using vehicles belonging to it, it will order this service from private companies. This strategy should make it possible “to make the trip more often, faster and cheaper,” explained Joel Kearns, a senior official within the space agency. And this, even if “we do not know how many of the first tests will succeed,” he added.
Aware of the risks, NASA nevertheless intends to help build a lunar economy, by stimulating, through its financing, the development of an ecosystem of companies capable of making the trip. They can thus be used by other clients: private companies or research institutions (universities, etc.).
The approach is completely different from that used during the Apollo program, when NASA controlled the entire development process. “When you have unlimited funds, like in the days of Apollo, yes you can do incredible things,” recalled Trent Martin, manager at one of the companies involved, Intuitive Machines, at a press conference. “But can we find a way to do it cheaper, with the market not just driven by public money?” he summed up.
14 companies, numerous missions
NASA has pre-selected no fewer than 14 “certified” companies that can be awarded contracts. At least eight missions are already planned, operated by four different companies. Some are young and still relatively inexperienced. The first attempt, led by start-up Astrobotic, failed to reach the Moon in January after an in-flight fuel leak.
This Pennsylvania-based company has a second test planned this year, which could however be postponed depending on the analysis of data from the first flight. This time, the cargo will be of greater value: NASA’s water-seeking rover, named Viper.
The Texan company Intuitive Machines, founded in 2013, will attempt to land its Nova-C probe on Thursday near the south pole of the Moon. She also has two other missions planned this year. Another Texan company, Firefly Aerospace, has two missions in preparation, including one in 2024, with its lander named Blue Ghost. Finally, Draper, a company based in Massachusetts, will have to attempt to land on the far side of the Moon in 2025.
For the first two missions that have already taken off (Astrobotic and Intuitive Machines), NASA has signed contracts worth around $100 million each.
The goal: prepare for the return of astronauts
In addition to the scientific study of the Moon, one of the main objectives for NASA is to support its Artemis program, which plans the return of astronauts to the lunar surface from 2026. Lunar dust, radio waves… Some CLPS missions should in particular allow us to better understand the environment of the south pole of the Moon, where the astronauts will be sent. Why there? Because water in the form of ice could be exploited there.
The missions of the Apollo program went closer to the equator, and did not envisage any lasting human presence, unlike the lunar base whose construction is currently being considered by NASA. “We are not trying to reproduce Apollo,” insisted Joel Kearns. “What we’re looking to do is science and technology studies that weren’t even considered at the time.”