NASA cancels VIPER mission that would have searched for water on the moon

NASA has not moved forward with its VIPER program — short for Volatiles Investigating Polar Exploration Rover — which aims to put a rover on the far side of the moon to search for water. On Wednesday, NASA pointed to rising costs. Many delays led to the project being cancelled.

VIPER was originally expected to launch in late 2023. However, NASA pushed the date back to September 2025 due to supply chain and schedule delays.

NASA says continuing to develop the spacecraft “would result in increased costs that would threaten to cancel or disrupt” other missions under the Commercial Lunar Payload Services (CLPS) program. The agency has spent $450 million developing the spacecraft so far, according to BloombergRather than dedicate more resources to the vehicle, it chose to disassemble the vehicle’s instruments and reuse them for future missions to the moon.

“The agency is planning a series of missions to search for ice and other resources on the moon over the next five years,” Nicola Fox, associate administrator for NASA’s Science Mission Directorate, said in a statement. “Our path forward will leverage the technology and work that has gone into VIPER, while preserving critical funds to support our robust lunar portfolio.”