NASA's 1st commercial moon landing delayed to 2026
Astrobotic's Griffin-1 lunar lander, previously planned for the end of 2025, now has a target of no earlier than July 2026.
The mission—part of NASA's Artemis program and flying on a SpaceX Falcon Heavy—needs extra time for final testing and assembly before it's ready to go.
Griffin is almost ready for its big journey
Most of Griffin's main parts are already in place, like thrusters and solar panels.
Engineers in Pennsylvania are busy testing its systems, with some components, such as the propellant tanks, still to be installed before they put it through tough space-readiness checks.
Griffin will carry cool stuff to the Moon
Griffin will carry cool stuff to the Moon: rovers from Astrolab and Astrobotic, plus cultural time capsules like MoonBox.
After a failed lunar landing last year, this mission is key for proving commercial moon deliveries can actually work.
Griffin is built to handle rough lunar terrain
Griffin is built to handle rough lunar terrain.
NASA's VIPER rover was supposed to ride along but will now hitch a lift with Blue Origin in 2027 instead.