Astrolab Announces NASA Payloads for Upcoming Mission to the Moon

Astrolab announced NASA payload customers for its first lunar mission aboard the company’s FLIP (FLEX Lunar Innovation Platform) rover.

FLIP will fly aboard Astrobotic’s Griffin-1 lander, part of NASA’s Commercial Lunar Payload Services (CLPS) initiative. Griffin-1 will deliver payloads to the Moon’s south pole, advancing the Artemis campaign to return humans to the lunar surface.

This mission is slated for launch in late 2026. Additional commercial payloads will be announced in the coming months.

FLIP is Astrolab’s platform for delivering small payloads and conducting autonomous mobility operations on the lunar surface. The mission will mark FLIP’s lunar debut, carrying instruments from multiple NASA centers while gathering operational data to inform future Artemis missions.

NASA Ames Research Center — Moon Exploration for Titanium with Active Lighting (METAL). A multicolor camera and radiometer developed by NASA Ames in partnership with Interlune, a natural resources company, to estimate helium-3 concentrations in lunar regolith, advancing resource assessment strategies for future lunar utilization.

NASA Goddard Space Flight Center — Laser Retroreflector Array (LRA). First LRA mounted on a lunar rover to retro-reflect laser beams for precision tracking of the rover’s position by an orbital laser altimeter. Made of eight quartz corner-cube prisms set into a dome-shaped aluminum frame, the array requires no power or maintenance. After the rover completes its mission, the LRA will remain as a permanent location marker on the Moon for future exploration.

NASA Johnson Space Center — Lunar Dust level sensor and Effects on Surfaces (LDES). Quantifies dust-induced degradation of critical Moon Base and Lander subsystems, including significant loss in radiator cooling, reduced solar array power generation, and potential loss of mission. LDES will measure thermal performance data to characterize dust accumulation on system surfaces and anchor predictive modeling, ensuring reliability and survivability of long-term lunar assets.

NASA Marshall Space Flight Center — Lunar LiDAR Demonstration. A hardened LiDAR system adapted for extreme lunar conditions to generate high-resolution 3D surface maps for navigation, obstacle detection, and hazard avoidance.

“We’re honored to deliver NASA’s instruments to the lunar surface,” said Jaret Matthews, founder and CEO of Astrolab. “With FLIP, we can provide a nimble, mobile platform that enables multiple NASA investigations in one mission. Together, these efforts will help pave the way for Artemis astronauts to explore more of the Moon.”

Unlike larger rover platforms, FLIP is specifically designed to operate without a deployment ramp, enabling direct egress from the top of the lander. This innovation reduces mission complexity and enables a wider range of landing configurations.

In addition to delivering payloads, FLIP will collect valuable engineering data and operational experience that will inform the development of Astrolab’s larger Flexible Logistics and Exploration (FLEX) rover, which is being designed to support future Artemis missions and commercial operations on the Moon.

Source: Astrolab media announcement