2022 Moon Missions Preview: CAPSTONE Could Lead Way on 3 May
Launch window opening 3 May for CAPSTONE orbiter still on schedule; Artemis-1 SLS / Orion / 10 CubeSat launch now likely July-August; Intuitive Machines Nova-C cradle (built by Caldwell Group) to transport lunar lander to KSC arrives in Houston for testing / launch windows for IM-1 & IM-2 announced ‘soon’; Astrobotic Peregrine flight model to have solar panels, fuel tanks, engines installed – launch late 2022; Luna-25 ‘later this year’; Japan ispace lander end of 2022 via SpaceX, SLIM pushed to March 2023; Korea Pathfinder 1 August Launch; ISRO Somanath puts doubt on Chandrayaan-3 launch in 2022
Astrobotic working to complete Peregrine lander at 4,645-m2 Pittsburgh HQ, flight model to be unveiled at 
Recipients of first 3 CLPS Task Orders, scheduled to land on Moon within 2022, Astrobotic of Pittsburgh (TO-1 / Lacus Mortis / US$79.5M) and Intuitive Machines of Houston (TO-2 / Vallis Schröteri / $77M, TO-3 / MSP / $47M) leading effort to return USA robotic landers to Moon surface; Astrobotic awaiting flight readiness of ULA Vulcan Centaur, itself waiting on pair of Blue Origin BE-4 engines 
SLS stacked with Orion Crew Capsule on KSC Launch Pad 39B awaiting Wet Dress Rehearsal, with NET May launch to orbit Moon; Rocket Lab Capstone rectilinear halo orbit pathfinder to launch between 3-15 May; Dubai Week reports Roscosmos and ISRO on track for August launch to Boguslavsky crater (Luna-25) and summer launch to a plain between Manzinus C and Simpelius N craters (Chandrayaan-3); ispace HAKUTO-R (NET Oct), Astrobotic Peregrine (NET Nov) landers to be powered by Agile Space Industries thrusters
93km2 area between Nobile (85.2°S, 53.5°E) and Malapert craters 137km from Moon South Pole to be site of Volatiles Investigating Polar Exploration Rover (VIPER) mission, selection based on criteria including sunlight availability, Earth visibility / communication, likelihood of finding water and navigable terrain, winnowed from 15 considered sites and 4 finalists; 100-day nominal mission expected to traverse 16-24km while utilizing TRIDENT drill and 3 sensors, launch Q4 2023 on SpaceX Falcon 9 / Astrobotic Griffin under US$199.5M CLPS contract
Known to contain molecular water and other useful volatiles per LRO & Chandrayaan / Moon Mineralogy Mapper data, lunar South Pole region exploration is focus of CLPS mission sequence with Intuitive Machines to deliver Prime-1 consisting of Trident 1m drill / MSolo off-the-shelf mass spectrometer to area in Q4 2022 under US$47M contract, Astrobotic to deliver VIPER autonomous rover with same instrument suite late 2023 under $199.5M contract; Landing site selection may have profound implications for human lunar base buildout, with Shackleton, Cabeus, Nobile Craters, Leibniz Plateau, Malapert Mountain being strong contenders
Astrobotic now employs 150+ from Pittsburgh HQ, from which Peregrine lander (100kg capacity) to be controlled as it descends onto and operates from Lacus Mortis in 2022; AON3D of Montreal to supply additive 3D printed components, funded by $11.5M investment round; CAES of Arlington providing avionics flight control processor; Griffin lander (500kg capacity) to deliver VIPER / Neutron Spectrometer System by 2024; PRISM-identified science missions 1A to Reiner Gamma, 1B to Schrödinger crater in 2024; 2A with 6° of MSP, 2B to Gruthuisen Domes in 2025 yet to be awarded to CLPS providers
Partnering With Crowdsourcing Platform Wevolver, 
NASA SBIR / SBTT Awards $750K/EA To 6 Businesses With Moon Focus: Paragon Space Development Corporation Of Tucson AZ (ISRU Collector Of Ice); Lunar Resources Of Houston TX (Molten Regolith Electrolysis Oxygen Capturing, Filtering & Storage System); Advanced Cooling Technologies Of Lancaster PA (Thermal Management System For Lunar Ice Miners); CesiumAstro Of Austin TX (Commercial Communications & Sensing System); Flight Works Of Irvine CA (High Performance Pump-fed Lunar Transfer Stage For Small Launchers); Blueshift Of Broomfield CO (Modeling Rover Interactions With Lunar Regolith In PSRs)