Route: STMD

Technology payloads chosen and funded by NASA's Space Technology Mission Directorate.

Technology payloads funded by NASA's Space Technology Mission Directorate (STMD), from its Tipping Point, Game Changing Development, Lunar Surface Innovation Initiative and Technology Demonstration Missions lines. In the public sources only the three Tipping Point payloads came through a public solicitation (STMD's 2018 and 2020 Tipping Point calls), and they flew in space the lander company provided, not as NASA CLPS payloads. The others had no payload call: NASA named them when it ordered their delivery, in a CLPS task order or in the Moon Base awards of 30 June 2026.

Calls and selections

Game Changing Development

• 19 July 2020, other: NASA Asks Commercial Partners to Land Water-Measuring Drill on Moon
• 16 October 2020, award: NASA Selects Intuitive Machines to Land Water-Measuring Payload on the Moon (20-100)
• 4 February 2021, award: NASA Selects Firefly Aerospace for Artemis Commercial Moon Delivery in 2023 (21-012)
• 6 August 2024, award: Commercial Lunar Payload Services (CLPS) JEFO for Task Order CT-3 (80JSC024F0068)
• 29 July 2025, award: NASA Selects Firefly for New Artemis Science, Tech Delivery to Moon (25-046)
• 27 March 2026, award: NASA Selects Intuitive Machines to Deliver Artemis Science, Tech to Moon
• Program page: Polar Resources Ice Mining Experiment 1 (PRIME-1)
• Program page: CT-3 Science

Lunar Surface Innovation Initiative

• 17 November 2021, award: NASA Selects Intuitive Machines for New Lunar Science Delivery (21-157)
• 11 February 2025, other: NASA’s Mini Rover Team Is Packed for Lunar Journey

Moon Base awards of 30 June 2026

• 30 June 2026, award: NASA Awards More Moon Base Science, Previews New Opportunities (26-053)
• Other: Ignition: Commercial Lunar Payloads Delivery CS-8 Task Order 1.0 Contract

MSolo before PRIME-1

• 22 January 2020, other: First Commercial Moon Delivery Assignments to Advance Artemis
• 8 April 2020, award: NASA Awards Contract to Deliver Science, Tech to Moon Ahead of Human Missions (20-038)

Technology Demonstration Missions

• 6 February 2024, other: NASA Tests New Spacecraft Propellant Gauge on Lunar Lander
• Program page: TO2-IM Science Payloads

Tipping Point

• 30 November 2017, call: Utilizing Public-Private Partnerships to Advance Tipping Point Technologies (80HQTR18NOA01-18STMD_001)
• 8 August 2018, selection: NASA Announces New Partnerships to Develop Space Exploration Technologies (18-070)
• 29 January 2020, call: Utilizing Public-Private Partnerships to Advance Tipping Point Technologies (80HQTR20NOA01-20STMD_001)
• 14 October 2020, selection: NASA Announces Partners to Advance ‘Tipping Point’ Technologies for the Moon, Mars (20-098)
• 14 October 2020, selection: 2020 NASA Tipping Point Selections

Payloads

18 payloads on 12 missions in the records so far.

Peregrine Mission One

Astrobotic (now Voyager Lunar Systems) · Peregrine · failed to land

• Terrain Relative Navigation (TRN) sensor: Astrobotic's Optical Precision Autonomous Landing (OPAL) sensor

IM-1

Intuitive Machines · Nova-C Odysseus · landed

• Radio Frequency Mass Gauge (RFMG)

Blue Ghost Mission 1

Firefly Aerospace · Blue Ghost · landed

• Stereo Cameras for Lunar Plume-Surface Studies (SCALPSS 1.1)
• Electrodynamic Dust Shield (EDS)

IM-2

Intuitive Machines · Nova-C Athena · landed

• The Regolith and Ice Drill for Exploring New Terrain (TRIDENT), part of PRIME-1
• Mass Spectrometer Observing Lunar Operations (MSolo), part of PRIME-1
• Micro Nova hopper (Grace)
• Lunar Surface Communications System (LSCS), Nokia

IM-3

Intuitive Machines · Nova-C Trinity · manifested

• Cooperative Autonomous Distributed Robotic Exploration (CADRE)

Blue Moon Pathfinder Mission 1

Blue Origin · Blue Moon Mark 1 (MK1) Endurance · manifested

• Stereo Cameras for Lunar Plume-Surface Studies (SCALPSS 1.x)

Blue Ghost Mission 4

Firefly Aerospace · Blue Ghost with the Elytra orbiter · manifested

• Stereo Cameras for Lunar Plume-Surface Studies (SCALPSS); NASA's CS-6 page says 'SCALPSS 1.x', the team's own slides list this unit as SCALPSS 2.0

IM-5

Intuitive Machines · Nova-D · manifested

• Stereo Cameras for Lunar Plume Surface Studies (SCALPSS); the team lists this unit as SCALPSS 2.1
• Mass Spectrometer for Observing Lunar Operations (MSolo)
• Multifunctional Nanosensor Platform (MNP)

Peregrine Mission Two

Astrobotic (Voyager Lunar Systems) · Peregrine · manifested

• Stereo Cameras for Lunar Plume Surface Studies (SCALPSS); version not stated by NASA

Peregrine Mission Three

Astrobotic (Voyager Lunar Systems) · Peregrine · manifested

• Stereo Cameras for Lunar Plume Surface Studies (SCALPSS); version not stated by NASA

IM-6

Intuitive Machines · Nova-C · manifested

• Stereo Camera for Lunar Plume Surface Studies (SCALPSS); version not stated by NASA

Blue Ghost Mission 5

Firefly Aerospace · Blue Ghost · manifested

• Stereo Cameras for Lunar Plume Surface Studies (SCALPSS); version not stated by NASA