Masten Mission One (XL-1 lander, NASA CLPS task order TO19C)
Planned Masten XL-1 lander flight to the lunar south pole carrying NASA instruments, several aimed at lunar volatiles and resources (MSolo, NIRVSS, the Neutron Spectrometer System on MoonRanger, L-CIRiS); it never launched. NASA's Inspector General reports the task order was terminated after Masten's 2022 bankruptcy, with USD 66.1 million already paid.
Objective. Deliver and operate NASA instruments to characterize south-polar surface composition and volatiles, including hydrogen as an indicator of buried water, and (separately contracted) collect a regolith sample for sale to NASA.
Facts
- Kind
- Spacecraft
- Mission type
- Prospecting
- Target
- Moonlunar south poleSouth polar region, no point: Lunar south pole missions
- Launch
- Former plan: 2023-11Historical. The mission was cancelled.
- Launch vehicle
- SpaceX (vehicle not specified in retrieved sources)
- Phase
- CancelledTerminal-state recheck on 2026-11-04: NASA OIG report IG-24-013 remains published and records the terminated task order, with USD 66.1 million paid against Masten's USD 81.3 million task order. Its Table 2 (as of February 2024) labels November 2023 as the Actual/Last Estimated Launch Date. This is a retained historical estimate for the cancelled mission, not a pending or actual launch. The official PDF was read manually through a document-text provider after the bounded capture exceeded its size cap; sources disclose that method.
- Outcome
- Not applicable
- Why it is included
- Carries a resource instrument
Outcome statement (agency statement)
As a result of this bankruptcy, NASA lost the $66 million in milestone payments made to Masten and is in the process of settling recoveries.
How this launch date changed
Recorded change: the plan before → the plan after, oldest first.
- 2021: 2022-11 (task-order launch date, NASA OIG) → 2023-11Schedule slip [8]
Date details
Historical. The mission was cancelled.
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
This mission was cancelled. Any former plan stays in the facts above as history.
Participants
Operators, payload owners, carriers and customers are recorded separately.
| Organization | Role |
|---|---|
| Masten Space Systems, Inc. | Operator |
| National Aeronautics and Space Administration | Customer |
| SpaceX | Launch provider |
Resources and evidence
| Resource | Evidence |
|---|---|
| Water ice | Targeted |
| Volatiles | Targeted |
| Regolith | Targeted |
Dated events
- 2020-12-03
NASA lunar regolith purchase contract to Masten Space Systems, $15,000
NASA selected Masten Space Systems to collect lunar regolith and transfer ownership in place to NASA for $15,000, following a planned 2023 South Pole landing. Masten never flew a lunar lander; Masten filed for Chapter 11 in July 2022; Astrobotic announced in September 2022 that it had acquired Masten, and a Chapter 11 plan of liquidation for Masten Space Systems, Inc. was later confirmed and reported effective. The fate of this contract is not documented in retrieved sources.
Sources (5) and evidence gaps
NASA has selected four companies to collect space resources and transfer ownership to the agency: Lunar Outpost of Golden, Colorado; Masten Space Systems of Mojave, California; ispace Europe of Luxembourg; and ispace Japan of Tokyo.
Masten Space Systems proposed collection for $15,000 following arrival in 2023 of a lander to the lunar South Pole.
Astrobotic announces today the acquisition of Masten Space Systems
Chapter 11 Voluntary Petition . Fee Amount $1738. Filed by Masten Space Systems, Inc.
Notice of Entry of Order Confirming, and Occurrence of Effective Date of Modified Combined Disclosure Statement and Chapter 11 Plan of Liquidation of Masten Space Systems, Inc.
- Termination, assignment, or other disposition of Masten's regolith contract after the 2022 acquisition not found in any primary source.
- Underlying confirmation-order and effective-date-notice PDFs were not retrieved; the precise effective date and completion of liquidation are not established by the retained docket entries.
- 2020-04-08
NASA CLPS task order to Masten Space Systems for south-pole delivery (USD 75.9 million)
NASA awarded Masten a USD 75.9 million CLPS task order to deliver eight payloads (nine instruments), several resource-related, to the lunar south pole; NASA OIG later reported the value grew to USD 81.3 million and the task order was terminated.
Sources (3)
The $75.9 million award includes end-to-end services for delivery of the instruments
Further, two task orders were terminated, one of which had already been paid $66.1 million of the $81.3 million task order value based on milestones performed.
As a result of this bankruptcy, NASA lost the $66 million in milestone payments made to Masten and is in the process of settling recoveries.
Open evidence gaps
- Exact date of NASA's termination of task order TO19C not found.
- Masten's own mission page (masten.aero) unreachable; specific landing site (reported elsewhere as near Haworth crater) not confirmed from a retrieved primary source.
- Status of the separate USD 15,000 NASA regolith-purchase contract after the bankruptcy not found.
Record history
changes to this record's facts, newest first
Sources
8 excerpts from 3 publicationsOne web address counts as one publication.
NASA has selected Masten Space Systems of Mojave, California, to deliver and operate eight payloads - with nine science and technology instruments - to the Moon's South Pole in 2022
Mass Spectrometer Observing Lunar Operations ( MSolo ) is a device to measure potentially accessible resources on the Moon's surface.
The MoonRanger will carry the Neutron Spectrometer System, which will measure the concentration of hydrogen in the Moon’s regolith – a possible indication of the existence of buried water.
Further, two task orders were terminated, one of which had already been paid $66.1 million of the $81.3 million task order value based on milestones performed.
As a result of this bankruptcy, NASA lost the $66 million in milestone payments made to Masten and is in the process of settling recoveries.
Masten last year announced the launch of its first lunar mission - called Masten Mission One - would be delayed nearly a year to November 2023.
Masten selected SpaceX to launch its XL-1 lunar lander mission, and owes the launch provider $4.6 million.
Masten Space Systems (TO19C)c April 2020 75.9 81.3 7 November 2022 November 2023
Cite this record
SpaceMiningData, “Masten Mission One (XL-1 lander, NASA CLPS task order TO19C)”, dataset version a00fa2c68a45, built 2026-11-11, https://spaceminingdata.com/missions/masten-mission-one.html. Record checked 2026-11-04.