spacetoday.net: Astrobotic to fly Astrolab rover on Griffin-1 lander

Posted: Sat, Feb 8, 2025, 12:52 PM ET (1752 GMT)
Griffin lander and FLIP rover (Astrobotic)

Astrobotic's Griffin lander will transport a rover built by Astrolab to the moon. The companies announced a deal Wednesday for Astrobotic to take Astrolab's FLEX Lunar Innovation Platform, or FLIP, rover to the south polar region of the moon as soon a the end of this year. FLIP is a technology demonstrator for Astrolab's larger FLEX lunar rover. FLIP is similar in size to VIPER, the NASA lunar rover that was the original payload for the Griffin-1 mission until NASA decided last summer to cancel VIPER. Astrobotic said it talked with more than 60 organizations interested in flying payloads in place of VIPER on the lander, and found Astrolab to be the best fit.