SpacecraftMoonIn development
Griffin Mission One (Griffin-1, NASA Moon Base II)
First flight of Astrobotic's Griffin lander (Astrobotic now operates as Voyager Lunar Systems), a NASA CLPS delivery to the lunar south pole with NASA's late-2026 target and Voyager's no-earlier-than-November-2026 bound (NASA names the Nobile Crater area; Voyager's 22 October 2026 article says near Mons Mouton). After NASA ended VIPER in 2024, its resource-relevant cargo is the NASA Ames/Interlune METAL investigation, which NASA says will study helium-3 abundance in the regolith.
Objective. Deliver NASA payloads including the METAL investigation (NASA Ames with Interlune), which NASA says will study helium-3 abundance in the lunar regolith to inform in-situ resource utilization.
Targeted
What to watch for
From the records here, checked 2026-10-28. Planned dates often slip.
- Launch. Voyager gives no earlier than November 2026 and NASA gives late 2026. Neither is a launch day, and the two have not been reconciled.
- Landing. This is the Griffin lander's first flight, to the lunar south pole. NASA names the Nobile Crater area and Voyager says near Mons Mouton; whether those are the same area or a site change is not established.
- The helium-3 question. Since NASA ended VIPER in 2024, this flight's resource-related cargo is the METAL camera from NASA Ames and Interlune. It is intended to image lunar soil to map titanium content and soil maturity, which Interlune and NASA use as proxies to estimate helium-3. Any helium-3 estimate would be derived from those proxies.
- What would change here. Both records stand at Targeted for helium-3. A launch or a landing would not change that. Each stays at Targeted until reported evidence supports inferring or measuring helium-3 under the site's evidence steps. How the steps work
- Still open. Interlune says METAL flies on Astrolab's FLIP rover. NASA's Griffin-1 section lists METAL without naming FLIP, so the mounting is company-stated.
Facts
- Kind
- Spacecraft
- Mission type
- Prospecting
- Target
- MoonNobile Crater region, lunar south pole (per NASA)South polar region, no point: Lunar south pole missions
- Launch
- Planned, no earlier than 2026-11Announcement date not recorded. Record checked 2026-10-28.
- Launch vehicle
- SpaceX Falcon Heavy
- Phase
- In developmentScoped schedule review on 2026-11-01: Voyager's 13 July 2026 release targets launch no earlier than November 2026. NASA's 13 October testing report still gives late 2026, while Voyager's October report describes final preparations before shipment. The date field records the published earliest-month bound, not a confirmed November launch. No actual launch or fixed launch day is established, so the phase remains in development. Older NASA schedule and landing-site discrepancies remain open.
- Outcome
- Not applicable
- Why it is included
- Stated resource objective
How this launch date changed
Recorded change: the plan before → the plan after, oldest first.
- 2026-05-26: no earlier than fall 2025 → late 2026 (2026-H2 target)Schedule slip [3]
- 2026-11-01: late 2026 (2026-H2 target) → no earlier than November 2026 (2026-11 net)Source update [13]
Current launch date: Planned, no earlier than 2026-11
Only changes recorded here are listed. The oldest date shown may not be the first plan ever announced, and a date with no recorded change may still have moved. A plan is not a launch.
What comes next
Next recorded dates are plans, not results.
Launch: Planned, no earlier than 2026-11Announcement date not recorded. Record checked 2026-10-28.
Participants
Operators, payload owners, carriers and customers are recorded separately.
| Organization | Role |
|---|---|
| Astrobotic Technology | Operator |
| National Aeronautics and Space Administration | Customer |
| Interlune | Payload owner |
Carried on this mission
| Record | Kind | Operator |
|---|---|---|
| METAL multispectral camera (Interlune / NASA Ames) on Griffin-1 | Instrument | Interlune |
Resources and evidence
| Resource | Evidence |
|---|---|
| Helium-3 | Targeted |
Open evidence gaps
- Interlune's 15 September 2026 blog says the company funded METAL's flight on Astrolab's FLIP rover; NASA's Moon Base Phases page lists METAL among Griffin-1 payloads and does not name FLIP in that section. The mounting on FLIP is therefore company-stated, not confirmed by the reviewed NASA section.
- Voyager's no-earlier-than-November-2026 statement is an earliest-month bound, not confirmation of a November launch or an exact day. NASA's October report says late 2026; older NASA pages retain earlier schedules. Their reconciliation and the actual launch day remain unresolved.
- Landing-site naming differs: NASA's Griffin-1 pages (October 2026) say Nobile Crater, while Voyager's 2026-10-22 article says near Mons Mouton. Whether these describe the same area or a site change is not established.
Record history
changes to this record's facts, newest first
| Changed | Field | Was | Now | Reason | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2026-11-10 | open evidence gaps | Whether METAL is mounted on Astrolab's FLIP rover (Interlune/Astrolab 2025 release) or on the lander deck; msn-interlune-metal-camera points here directly, skipping FLIP. | Interlune's 15 September 2026 blog says the company funded METAL's flight on Astrolab's FLIP rover; NASA's Moon Base Phases page lists METAL among Griffin-1 payloads and does not name FLIP in that section. The mounting on FLIP is therefore company-stated, not confirmed by the reviewed NASA section. | Correction | [16] |
| 2026-11-01 | launch date | late 2026 (2026-H2 target) | no earlier than November 2026 (2026-11 net) | Source update | [13] |
| 2026-10-31 | open evidence gaps | No launch month or day is published; NASA and Voyager give only late 2026. | Voyager targets launch no earlier than November 2026 (13 July 2026 release); the exact launch day and reconciliation of the conflicting schedule statements remain unresolved. | Correction | [12] |
| 2026-05-26 | launch date | no earlier than fall 2025 | late 2026 (2026-H2 target) | Schedule slip | [3] |
| 2024-07-17 | objective | Deliver NASA's VIPER water-ice prospecting rover (2020 CLPS award) | Griffin flight demonstration without VIPER | Reclassification | [5] |
Sources
16 excerpts from 10 publicationsOne web address counts as one publication.
The lander is being prepared for transport to NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, where it will undergo environmental testing ahead of its planned launch to the Moon in late 2026.
the Moon Exploration for Titanium with Active Lighting (METAL) investigation, developed by NASA's Ames Research Center in partnership with Interlune. METAL will study the abundance of helium-3 in the lunar regolith
Moon Base II: Planned for launch later this year, this mission will deliver more than 1,100 pounds of cargo on Astrobotic's Griffin lander, including Astrolab's FLIP rover
The Astrobotic Griffin-1 mission will deliver more than 1,100 pounds of cargo to the Nobile Crater at the lunar South Pole, including the Astrolab FLIP rover
Astrobotic will continue its Griffin Mission One within its contract with NASA, working toward a launch scheduled for no earlier than fall 2025. The landing without VIPER will provide a flight demonstration of the Griffin lander and its engines.
Astrobotic now operates as Voyager Lunar Systems
SpaceX’s Falcon Heavy completes our Griffin Mission 1 (GM1) solution by providing a proven launch vehicle to carry us on our trajectory to the Moon.
Griffin-1 is expected to launch in late 2026 aboard a SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket.
Griffin-1 is now returning to Voyager’s Lunar Systems headquarters in Pittsburgh, where the team will complete final preparations ahead of shipment to Cape Canaveral, Florida for launch.
expected to launch with 10 payloads in late 2026
Our team has been diligently running repeated landing simulations to give us the highest assurance of a safe and precise landing near Mons Mouton at the South Pole.
Launch is targeted no earlier than November 2026.
Launch is targeted no earlier than November 2026.
Griffin-1 is expected to launch in late 2026 aboard a SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket.
Griffin-1 is now returning to Voyager’s Lunar Systems headquarters in Pittsburgh, where the team will complete final preparations ahead of shipment to Cape Canaveral, Florida for launch.
Interlune obtained the Moon Exploration for Titanium with Active Lighting (METAL) instrument from the Ames Research Center and funded its flight to the Moon on Astrolab’s FLIP rover.
Cite this record
SpaceMiningData, “Griffin Mission One (Griffin-1, NASA Moon Base II)”, dataset version a00fa2c68a45, built 2026-11-11, https://spaceminingdata.com/missions/astrobotic-griffin-1.html. Record checked 2026-10-28.