NASA and Draper scrap far-side lunar lander after years of delays

The $73 million CP-12 task order is cancelled, ending plans to place seismometers on the moon's far side by decade's end.

NASA and Draper have mutually agreed to terminate CP-12, a lunar lander task order awarded to Draper in July 2022 under the Commercial Lunar Payload Services program. The task order was valued at $73 million, of which NASA said $43 million had already been paid for completed milestones. The agency cited delays tied to a lander redesign that had pushed the projected landing out to 2030 or 2031.

The mission had slipped repeatedly, from an original 2025 launch to 2026, then 2027, then 2030. The lander, supplied by Draper subcontractor ispace-U.S., was to reach the moon's far side carrying three experiments, including the Farside Seismic Suite meant to measure seismic activity in the Schrödinger Basin. In March, ispace announced it was again changing engines and merging its US and Japanese designs into a single lander called Ultra, adding further churn.

This is a setback for the idea that commercial delivery can build out reliable, repeatable access to the moon. CLPS is meant to make lunar payload delivery routine and affordable through competition; a cancelled task order after four years and $43 million spent shows how far that model still is from dependable. Cislunar delivery infrastructure gets built through flights that actually land.

On June 30, NASA awarded four new lander missions to Astrobotic, Firefly and Intuitive Machines, so the program continues. But at least some of those target the near side and could not host the far-side seismometers, leaving that science without an obvious ride. ispace-U.S. says it will pursue work under CLPS 2.0.

Source: SpaceNews