Commercial Lunar Payload Services (CLPS)

NASA Artemis Science, First Intuitive Machines Flight Head to Moon

A suite of NASA science instruments and technology demonstrations is on the way to our nearest celestial neighbor for the benefit of humanity. Through this flight to the Moon, they will provide insights into the lunar surface environment and test technologies for future landers and Artemis astronauts. At 1:05 a.m.

Posted February 15, 2024

Commercial Lunar Payload Services (CLPS)

Six NASA Instruments Will Fly to Moon on Intuitive Machines Lander

NASA is gearing up for a commercial robotic flight to the Moon under the agency’s CLPS (Commercial Lunar Payload Services) initiative and Artemis campaign. Intuitive Machines will launch its Nova-C lander on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket no earlier than Wednesday, Feb. 14, from Cape Canaveral, Florida.

Posted February 13, 2024

Artemis

Commercial Lunar Payload Services (CLPS)

Communicating and Navigating with Missions

Goddard Space Flight Center

Technology

How NASA Uses Simple Technology to Track Lunar Missions

NASA is using a simple but effective technology called Laser Retroreflective Arrays (LRAs) to determine the locations of lunar landers more accurately. They will be attached to most of the landers from United States companies as part of NASA’s Commercial Lunar Payload Service (CLPS) initiative.

Posted February 13, 2024

NASA Headquarters

Artemis

Commercial Lunar Payload Services (CLPS)

Johnson Space Center

Kennedy Space Center

Missions

NASA Sets Coverage for SpaceX, Intuitive Machines First Moon Mission

Editor’s Note: This advisory was updated Feb. 8, 2024, to reflect an updated date and time for the lunar delivery readiness media teleconference. As part of NASA’s CLPS (Commercial Lunar Payload Services) initiative and Artemis campaign, SpaceX is targeting no earlier than 12:57 a.m. EST Wednesday, Feb. 14, for a Falcon 9 launch of Intuitive […]

Posted February 7, 2024

Marshall Space Flight Center

Commercial Lunar Payload Services (CLPS)

NASA to Demonstrate Autonomous Navigation System on Moon

When the second CLPS (Commercial Lunar Payload Services) delivery is launched to the Moon in mid-February, its NASA payloads will include an experiment that could change how human explorers, rovers, and spacecraft independently track their precise location on the Moon and in cis-lunar space.

Posted February 7, 2024

Glenn Research Center

Commercial Lunar Payload Services (CLPS)

Cryogenic Fluid Management (CFM)

Technology Demonstration

NASA Tests New Spacecraft Propellant Gauge on Lunar Lander

Editor’s note, Feb. 6, 2024: This article has been updated to clarify that the Radio Frequency Mass Gauge estimates how much propellant is available in a tank. It does not make an exact measurement. It’s easy to measure fuel in tanks on Earth, where gravity pulls the liquid to the bottom. But in space, the game […]

Posted February 6, 2024

Langley Research Center

Commercial Lunar Payload Services (CLPS)

NASA’s Laser Navigation Tech Enables Commercial Lunar Exploration

Later this month, NASA’s commercial lunar delivery services provider Intuitive Machines will launch its Nova-C lunar lander carrying several NASA science and technology payloads, including the Navigation Doppler Lidar (NDL).

Posted February 5, 2024

Commercial Lunar Payload Services (CLPS)

Langley Research Center

Tiny NASA Cameras to Picture Interaction Between Lander, Moon’s Surface

Say cheese, Moon. We’re coming in for a close-up. As Intuitive Machines’ Nova-C lander descends toward the Moon, four tiny NASA cameras will be trained on the lunar surface, collecting imagery of how the surface changes from interactions with the spacecraft’s engine plume.

Posted February 2, 2024

Commercial Lunar Payload Services (CLPS)

Artemis

Earth's Moon

Goddard Space Flight Center

Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO)

NASA to Study Effects of Radio Noise on Lunar Science

In February 2024, Intuitive Machines’ IM-1 mission will launch to the Moon’s South Polar region, as part of NASA’s Commercial Lunar Payload Services, or CLPS, initiative. This mission is part of CLPS’ ongoing effort to bring down the cost for science investigations and technology demonstrations going to the Moon and to make them more routine […]

Posted February 1, 2024

Commercial Lunar Payload Services (CLPS)