Moon
NASA MoonFall
Firefly Elytra mission carrying four JPL hopping robots to the lunar south pole.
Under development for a launch no earlier than 2028, with a planned 45-day transit and up to 14 days of surface operations.
Official mission site ↗The mission
NASA MoonFall is a Jet Propulsion Laboratory lunar technology mission using Firefly Aerospace's Elytra orbital vehicle. Elytra will deliver four robotic hoppers to the lunar south pole to investigate terrain that conventional wheeled rovers cannot easily reach.
The launch
- Launch
- No earlier than 2028
- Launch location
- Not documented
- Launch vehicle
- Not documented
- Orbit
- Lunar transfer and lunar south-pole delivery trajectory
Mission timeline
Mission development and integration
2026-2028
Firefly and JPL develop and integrate the Elytra spacecraft and four hopping robots.
Open milestone source ↗Objectives
- 01
Deliver four hopping robots to the lunar south pole.
- 02
Demonstrate mobility in steep and hazardous polar terrain.
- 03
Collect coordinated measurements across locations inaccessible to conventional rovers.
- 04
Validate Elytra delivery and mission-support capabilities.
Spacecraft
Elytra Orbital Vehicle
Carries the four MoonFall robots from Earth departure through lunar delivery.
- Manufacturer
- Firefly Aerospace
MoonFall hopping robots
Compact robotic hoppers designed for dispersed south-polar exploration.
- Manufacturer
- NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory
- Science and navigation payloads
Gallery
One image from NASA MoonFall.
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