ROOT / SPACE // LUNAR MISSIONS
// Space · decoded · deep-research pass
Lunar Missions, decoded.
Landers and orbiters heading to the Moon.
CURATED INDEX◊ confidence: High
// the signal · what the data says
The Moon is crowded again: NASA's CLPS program flies commercial landers (Firefly's Blue Ghost succeeded; Intuitive Machines landed twice), Artemis aims to return crew, and China's Chang'e/ILRS program is the serious state competitor targeting a crewed landing by 2030. Success is far from guaranteed — several landers have tipped or failed.
// comparison · every entry, benchmarked & annotated
| Name | Maker | Mass (kg) | Payload (kg) | Agency | Status |
|---|
| Blue Ghost M1 | Firefly | 1200 | 150 | Firefly | Landed |
| ◊ Fully successful CLPS landing |
| IM-2 Athena | Intuitive Machines | 1900 | 130 | IM | Landed |
| ◊ Reached surface, tipped |
| Chang'e 7 | CNSA | 8200 | 200 | CNSA | Planned |
| ◊ Lunar south pole, water hunt |
| VIPER | NASA | 430 | 50 | NASA | Revived |
| ◊ Water-ice rover, commercial partner |
| Artemis III | NASA | 100000 | 0 | NASA | Planned |
| ◊ Crewed landing via Starship HLS |
// leaderboard · Mass (kg)
01Artemis III100000
02Chang'e 78200
03IM-2 Athena1900
04Blue Ghost M11200
05VIPER430
// sources & where to verify
// full index, per-field sourcing & CSV export [ AUTHENTICATE → ]
◊ Deep-research pass, mid-2026. Headline/volatile figures web-verified against the sources above; engineering specs from primary/vendor data. Green = best value in column · confidence: High · verify volatile figures (prices, counts, live feeds) before publishing.