Category Archives: Lunar Volatiles

Friday / 23 January 2026

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Blue Origin On the Move with Endurance MK-1 Lander and New Glenn Booster Re-Use

Blue Origin MK-1 lunar lander Endurance travels to Houston for testing in NASA Thermal Vacuum Chamber A used for Apollo to simulate space harsh conditions such as temperature swings, for Dynamic Force Acoustic Test and others; vibration testing complete; Blue Origin third New Glenn, NG-3, will launch NET late February with same orbital booster as last flight — considered a short turnaround, to take AST SpaceMobile BlueBird 7 to LEO; another 2026 New Glenn flight, NG-4, expected to launch Endurance to the Moon; NET 2027 Blue Origin to take VIPER to lunar South Pole

Image Credits: Blue Origin, NASASpaceFlight

Friday / 9 January 2026

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Artemis Human Landings Anticipated with Preparatory FLIP, then FLEX Rovers

Launching NET July 2026 via 63,800kg-capacity Falcon Heavy, under NASA-CLPS US$322M award, Astrobotic Griffin-1 lander with 625kg capacity targets Nobile Crater, ~85°S, 53°E; primary payload Venturi Astrolab 500kg FLIP rover testing hyper-deformable tires, telerobotic mobility, thermal resilience, dust mitigation for larger FLEX vehicle; ~1,000kg-capacity FLEX launches in HLS lander NET 2027 on 200,000kg-capacity Starship Super-Heavy; FLIP rover is critical pathfinder for sustainable lunar infrastructure, carrying Interlune instrument seeking H3 / water ice, as well as 40-micron-thin nickel disks with millions of images of human endeavors, and Space Age Publishing Company weekly Space Calendar and Moon Messages

Image Credits: Astrobotic, Astrolab, Arch Mission Foundation

Tuesday / 6 January 2026

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2026 Proposed Moon Missions to Advance Science, Prepare for Human Landings

Artemis 2 launching NET 6 Feb for Moon flyby, presaging NET 2028 landing of first woman and possibly 1st person of color or non-USA citizen; “early” 2026 Blue Origin cargo lander Mark-1 to test tech for Artemis 3 human lander; Intuitive Machines IM-3 plans H1 2026 science mission to Reiner Gamma, 7.5°N; Astrobotic Griffin-1 targeting July for taking Astrolab FLIP rover and its payloads to Nobile Crater at South Pole; “late” 2026 has Firefly sending Blue Ghost 2 to far side with Elytra orbital for comms, and China dispatching Chang’E-7 with lander, rover and hopper to hunt volatiles near South Pole

Image Credits: NASA, Astrobotic, Astrolab

Tuesday / 9 December 2025

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ispace Collaborates for Moon Transportation Systems and Infrastructure

ispace of Japan has 300 employees worldwide, Tokyo, Luxembourg, USA offices; agrees with Japan Air Lines (JAL) to continue collaboration from Hakuto-R R&D Moon lander program into Initial Commercial Phase of lunar missions; ispace focus on economic Earth-Moon connection to be supported by JAL safe / secure travel, 70 years in air, now into space; ispace collaborating with Kurita Water Industries for lunar water resource development via technologies, feasibility assessments, payload planning / integration; upcoming collaborations with Draper USA for 2027 CLPS mission and Japan Ministry of Economy / Trade / Industry for 2028 Series 3 lander

Image Credits: Kurita Water Industries, ispace-inc, Japan Air Lines

Friday / 14 November 2025

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Scientist Zarubin of Russia Highlights ISS Lessons for Cooperative International Lunar Program

Webinar International Lunar Program Sustainability: ISS Lessons Learned as Applied for Lunar Exploration has Dmitry Zarubin, Russian Academy of Sciences, former Roscosmos ISS management, 2 IAF committees; speaks of 15 nations working 25 years (38 including MIR) for continuous human presence in space; emphasizes applying ISS segment configuration / redundancy / genuine partnership to lunar exploration, fostering global cooperation for humanity benefit; describes Russia Luna Luna 26 orbiter, dual Luna 27 landers for polar drilling / hazard avoidance as robotic precursors to human Moon travel to solve water / dust issues; promotes ISRU to cut costs, redundant infrastructure for reliability, forums like IDSEA / UN ATLAC to align objectives, ensure peaceful, evolving research for all humankind

Image Credits: Dmitry Zarubin

Tuesday / 11 November 2025

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Lunar Experts Favor More Moon Rock Returns: Selenology to Benefit Humanity

NASA veteran Andrew Petro writes that lunar robotic missions returning regolith will accelerate exploration; lunar geologist Clive Neal analyzes Apollo remnants for resource potential; NASA planetary scientist Noah Petro (no relation) advocates new samples during Artemis missions; regolith research benefits ISRU yielding safer Astronaut missions and lunar base viability; Apollo brought 382kg; authentic samples priceless under USA law, fragments bring ~US$5M illegally; China Chang’E-5 samples sent to scientists worldwide; Outer Space Treaty declares Moon belongs to all, thus symbolic share per human of acre, with lunar ~9.37B acres ample for ~8.2B Earth inhabitants

Image Credits: NASA

Friday / 3 October 2025

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Europe Moves Forward with International Collaboration on Moon Missions for Exploration, Monitoring, Mining

Airbus (Netherlands / France, with German / USA / China / Canada offices) supplies European Service Module for Artemis II Orion spacecraft, providing life-support, avionics, solar power, propulsion; ESA Argonaut lunar lander planned to launch NET 2031; Blue Origin (USA / Luxembourg) teams with Luxembourg government / ESRIC / GOMSpace to create Oasis-1 orbiter to map water ice / H3 / rare minierals, before sending Blue Alchemist mining rig; Space Applications Services (Belgium) designing 300kg rover; ispace Europe awaits ESA approval for MAGPIE 30kg rover to analyze subsurface geology, hydrogen forms, et al

Image Credits: Airbus, Blue Origin, NASA

Tuesday / 30 September 2025

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NASA Awards Blue Origin US$190M VIPER Delivery Contract

Blue Origin will now deliver NASA lunar rover to the Moon South Pole using Blue Moon Mark 1 lander; targeting late 2027, the 100-day mission will seek water ice and volatiles, supporting Artemis; Blue Origin $3B Space Coast facility, including the 18,600 m² Lunar Plant 1, will build the lander, employing 1,500 workers; the New Glenn heavy-lift rocket will enable lunar deliveries, while Blue Origin advances its Human Landing System for Artemis V

Image Credits: Blue Origin

Tuesday / 9 September 2025

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World-Leading Spacefaring Countries Japan and India Working Toward Human Lunar Presence

India-Japan lunar collaboration advances through Tokyo summit with prime ministers, and signing of LuPEX Implementing Arrangement by JAXA VP Mayumi Matsuura and India Ambassador Sibi George; Chandrayaan-5 / LuPEX mission, duration 100-365 days, targets water ice at Moon south pole with ~6,000kg India lander carrying ~350kg JAXA rover via NET 2028 launch on JAXA H3-24L rocket; builds on Chandrayaan-3 Statio Shiv Shakti landing ~69°S and Chandrayaan-4 sample return NET 2027; new phase in space cooperation exemplified by commercial agreement between ispace Japan (~US$130m equity funding) and startup Digantara of India (~US$16m) to build cislunar infrastructure promoting sustained human presence on Moon

Image Credits: Office of the Prime Minister – India, JAXA, NASA

Tuesday / 29 July 2025

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IM Re-Sets 3rd Landing to 2026, Pushing Forward on LTV, International Collaboration

Intuitive Machines (IM) is networking / outreaching internationally, working with companies in Norway, Germany, Hungary, and inspiring Mohamed Al Aseeri, CEO of Bahrain Space Agency, who signed the Artemis Accords for his country with goals of global collaboration / staying apprised of lunar tech; IM will add NASA-chosen Infrared Spectrometer (AIRES) developed at ASU Tempe and Microwave Spectrometer (L-MAPS) developed at UH Manoa to its Lunar Terrain Vehicle competing for NASA award to be announced NLT 31 Dec; IM CTO Tim Crain expects full IM-3 success via redundant laser rangefinders, lunar crater maps, 12 pre-landing orbits

Credits: NASA, IM