> ## Content Index > Fetch the complete content index at: https://jatan.space/llms.txt > Use this file to discover other available public pages before exploring further. # All the rovers heading to the Moon over the next 10 years | Moon Monday #256 - URL: https://jatan.space/moon-monday-issue-256/ - Published: 2026-01-05T11:27:34.000Z - Updated: 2026-08-05T08:18:34.000Z - Author: Jatan Mehta - Tags: Moon Monday, Articles As lunar exploration [ramps up worldwide](https://jatan.space/moon-monday-issue-255/), our celestial companion is slated to be explored by increasingly advanced rovers of all sorts over the next 10 years. Not all of them will be successful, and so the reason for this post is not just to garner excitement about the possibilities of near future lunar exploration but also to archive in one place the promises being made so we can assess them in the future instead of only reporting, sharing, and amplifying grand plans. The same rationale is why I do a [year-end review of global lunar activities](https://jatan.space/moon-monday-issue-255/): to see what we actually achieved and what we did not. Alright, with that in mind, here’s a comprehensive and contextualized list of upcoming lunar rovers & mobile robots from around the world, categorized as small, sophisticated, and astronaut-supporting. To learn more about any rover, click its link—that’s what the Web is for. :) ## Small but mighty ![](https://jatan.space/content/images/2026/01/firefly-blue-ghost-2-uae-rashid-rover-2-illustration.jpg) Illustration of Firefly’s Blue Ghost 2 lander and UAE’s Rashid 2 rover on the Moon’s farside. [Image: Firefly](https://fireflyspace.com/news/firefly-aerospace-adds-uaes-rashid-2-rover-to-blue-ghost-mission-to-the-far-side-of-the-moon/) - Building on [the success of its first Moon landing](https://jatan.space/moon-monday-issue-218/#firefly-deserves-an-unusual-kudos), US-based Firefly’s next three lunar landers, all part of NASA’s [CLPS program](https://jatan.space/nasa-clps-moon-missions/), will carry rovers. The second Firefly lander [will carry UAE’s Rashid 2 rover](https://jatan.space/moon-monday-issue-226/#firefly-to-carry-second-uae-lunar-rover-and-more) to the Moon’s farside whereas the third lander will deploy [Honeybee Robotics’ first planetary rover](https://www.honeybeerobotics.com/news-events/firefly-aerospace-selects-blue-origins-honeybee-robotics-to-provide-rover-for-lunar-mission-to-gruithuisen-domes/) on one of the two [Gruithuisen Domes](https://jatan.space/unique-volcanic-domes-of-gruithuisen/), a unique volcanic site on the lunar nearside. Firefly’s [fourth lander](https://jatan.space/moon-monday-issue-236/), heading to the lunar south pole, will carry a [versatile CubeRover](https://jatan.space/moon-monday-issue-172/#astrobotic-to-fly-cuberover-on-griffin-after-all) from US-based Astrobotic called [Moonranger](https://www.astrobotic.com/lunar-delivery/rovers/our-history/). NASA has also [awarded](https://www.nasa.gov/press-release/nasa-partners-with-american-companies-on-key-moon-exploration-tech) future contracts for Astrobotic CubeRovers to [demonstrate power transmission](https://jatan.space/moon-monday-issue-138/) and [lunar night survival](https://www.astrobotic.com/cuberover-funded-for-survive-the-lunar-night-mission). - Intuitive Machines’ [third Moon landing attempt](https://jatan.space/nasa-clps-mission-to-reiner-gamma/) will be in the [swirl of Reiner Gamma](https://jatan.space/swirls-on-the-moon/) in 2026\. The region has a weak local magnetic field, possibly a remnant from the time the Moon [had a global magnetic field](http://advances.sciencemag.org/content/3/8/e1700207). The mission’s primary payload suite is [Lunar Vertex](https://www.jhuapl.edu/NewsStory/211018b-lunar-vertex), a collection of spectrometers and magnetometers on the lander and [a rover](https://web.archive.org/web/20230815201121/https://lunaroutpost.com/lunar-outpost-delivers-first-flight-model-rover-in-record-time/) to study the swirl’s composition and map the strength & direction of magnetic fields on the surface. This will shape our understanding of the Moon’s magnetic evolution and also help us better understand the effects of [solar wind](https://jatan.space/the-sun-and-its-wind/) and [bombarding micrometeorites](https://jatan.space/the-tiniest-of-impact-craters/) on planetary bodies across our Solar System. The Intuitive lander will also deploy three shoebox-sized [CADRE rovers](https://www.nasa.gov/directorates/spacetech/game%5Fchanging%5Fdevelopment/projects/CADRE) by NASA. The rovers will autonomously navigate the landed region to demonstrate collectively better mapping it than a single rover would. The rovers will have multistatic ground penetrating radars to create 3D images of the subsurface structure up to 10 meters deep. - Later on, ispace US’ [first CLPS mission](https://jatan.space/moon-monday-issue-184/) through Draper Laboratory is targeting landing on the Moon’s farside in 2027, carrying [NASA payloads](https://jatan.space/moon-monday-issue-184/#science) onboard as well as [a rover from ispace Europe](https://ispace-inc.com/news-en/?p=7495). - China’s [Chang’e 8](https://jatan.space/moon-monday-issue-175/#prepare-for-crew-and-double-down-with-mission-eight) lander, targeting a 2028 launch, will deploy [Pakistan’s first rover](https://tribune.com.pk/story/2509494/suparcos-rover-to-explore-lunar-surface) and two [small mobile bots](https://spacenews.com/china-embraces-commercial-participation-in-moon-mission-for-the-first-time/) from private Chinese company STAR.VISION. The latter is being developed in collaboration with universities from China and Turkey. This would be the first payload from a Chinese company flying on a Chang’e spacecraft. - NASA has [announced](https://science.nasa.gov/missions/artemis/artemis-4/nasa-selects-2-instruments-for-artemis-iv-lunar-surface-science/) that on the future crewed [Artemis IV](https://www.nasa.gov/general/nasas-artemis-iv-building-first-lunar-space-station/) Moon landing mission, the astronauts will also deploy a rover [made by Lunar Outpost](https://www.lunaroutpost.com/post/lunar-outpost-announces-7th-mission-joining-nasa-s-artemis-iv-team-with-university-of-colorado-boul), which will study [lunar dust](https://doi.org/10.3847/PSJ/ad1ffe) and surface [plasma](https://www.hou.usra.edu/meetings/lunarsurface22/pdf/5010.pdf). - *Update from April 2026:* The Japanese government selected a [consortium](https://www.niche.tohoku.ac.jp/zzcmsw/wp-content/uploads/SSF%5FLunar%5FPioneer%5FProject%5Ffull%5Ftext.pdf) led by Tohoku university to [develop a lunar polar rover](https://www.jaops.com/events/space-strategy-fund-grant-lunar-pioneer-project) as part of the country’s 10-year, ¥1-trillion “[Space Strategy Fund](https://fund.jaxa.jp/content/uploads/Overview%5Fof%5FThe%5FSpaceStrategy%5FFund.pdf)”, which has [Moon missions as a focus area](https://jatan.space/moon-monday-issue-274/#japan-funds-public-private-lunar-missions). Once on the surface, the rover aims to fire an electron beam to melt and solidify lunar soil, the first step ahead of [constructing lunar infrastructure](https://jatan.space/moon-monday-issue-244/) from local materials in the future. - *Update from May 2026:* NASA JPL [awarded a $75 million contract](https://fireflyspace.com/news/firefly-aerospace-wins-75-million-nasa-jpl-moonfall-subcontract-to-deliver-drones-to-the-moons-south-pole/) to Firefly to have its [Elytra Dark](https://jatan.space/moon-monday-issue-230/#the-silver-ocula-to-fill-some-gaps-for-nasa) spacecraft deliver 3-4 “[Moonfall](https://www.jpl.nasa.gov/missions/moonfall/)” hopper drones to \~50-kilometer lunar orbit in 2028\. From this point on, each drone will land on the Moon by itself. At [225 kilograms](https://arstechnica.com/space/2026/05/nasa-takes-steps-toward-building-moon-base-including-discussing-a-perimeter/) each, these drones are really mini-landers. Each will carry a few instruments to study the lunar surface during hops. NASA aims to acquire lunar surface imagery with centimeter-level resolution ahead of crewed Artemis missions and to also use the drones to [establish a Moonbase “perimeter”](https://spacepolicyonline.com/news/nasa-awards-initial-moon-base-rover-and-lander-contracts/). - *Update from March 2026:* Intuitive Machines’ [fifth CLPS Moon mission](https://www.nasa.gov/missions/artemis/clps/nasa-selects-intuitive-machines-to-deliver-artemis-science-tech-to-moon/) targeting a landing on the Moon’s south pole by 2030 to study [water ice](https://jatan.space/ultimate-guide-to-water-on-the-moon/) will deploy Australia’s [first lunar rover](https://www.space.gov.au/meet-roo-ver) called Roo-ver to [explore the polar environment](https://www.hou.usra.edu/meetings/lpsc2024/pdf/1682.pdf). The mission’s lander will also deploy Honeybee Robotics’ [second lunar rover](https://www.nasa.gov/missions/artemis/clps/nasa-selects-intuitive-machines-to-deliver-artemis-science-tech-to-moon/). - An [as-yet-unspecified CLPS rover](https://www.nasa.gov/news-release/new-nasa-artemis-instruments-to-study-volcanic-terrain-on-the-moon/) is intended to study the unique mound-like volcanic feature of [Ina](https://jatan.space/ina-irregular-mare-patch/) on the Moon by the end of this decade as well. - South Korea’s [first Moon lander](https://jatan.space/moon-monday-issue-181/) plans to deploy a rover on the Moon by 2032 though details are unavailable at the moment. The country’s interest is certainly substantial though since South Korea is transforming its former mining site of Taebaek [into a testing ground](https://pulse.mk.co.kr/news/all/11279380) for advanced mobile lunar exploration technologies, owing to the mine’s environmental resemblance to the darkness, coldness, and ruggedness of the Moon’s south pole. ## Sophisticated ![](https://jatan.space/content/images/2026/01/chang-e-7-mobile-hopper.jpeg) A hopper will separate from the Chang’e 7 lander to directly explore permanently shadowed regions and cold traps on the Moon’s south pole which likely host water ice. Images: [CNSA](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TecH94d1TTw) / [CCTV](https://www.scmp.com/news/china/science/article/3329997/china-led-moon-missions-water-probe-will-be-first-humanity-space-agency) - Launching this year, China’s [Chang’e 7 mission](https://jatan.space/moon-monday-issue-248/) will have a rover sporting an intended [eight-year lifespan](https://www.cnsa.gov.cn/english/n6465645/n6465648/c6840870/part/6797907.pdf) and a panoramic camera, a Raman spectrometer, a ground penetrating radar, a mass spectrometer, and a magnetometer to explore the Moon’s south pole and map [water ice](https://jatan.space/ultimate-guide-to-water-on-the-moon/). The Chang’e 7 lander will also deploy a small hopper with shock absorbing legs. It will jump into nearby [permanently shadowed areas](https://jatan.space/permanently-shadowed-regions-on-the-moon/) for its onboard [Lunar Water Molecular Analyzer](https://doi.org/10.1007/s12583-024-2023-7) (LWMA) to detect water ice and other volatile resources like ammonia. Chang’e 7 will be China’s first attempt to gain such a ground truth understanding of the accessibility, movement, and storage of surface and near-surface water ice on the Moon’s poles, which is crucial to appropriately plan sustained robotic as well as crewed lunar exploration. Virtually all recent missions funded by NASA have [failed to advance on this goal](https://jatan.space/moon-monday-issue-221/) despite it being foundational to the US Artemis program. - Two years after Chang’e 7, the Chang’e 8 lander will deploy a rover and a [dextrous mobile robot](https://hkust.edu.hk/news/research-and-innovation/hkust-leads-change-8-international-cooperation-project) to characterize with [many instruments](https://jatan.space/moon-monday-issue-175/#prepare-for-crew-and-double-down-with-mission-eight) the lunar south polar geology and environment. The dextrous robot will melt lunar soil, make 3D-printed parts and bricks from it, and use those to assemble basic structures. That’s a fantastic sounding first demonstration of in-situ utilization of lunar resources. The robot will also fetch rock and soil samples for the lander’s spectrometers to determine their chemical composition, which will likely include water ice. CNSA might leave some intriguing samples on the Moon for future missions to retrieve them and bring them to Earth. - Astrobotic’s large [Griffin lander](https://www.astrobotic.com/griffin) aims to land on the Moon’s south pole as part of NASA CLPS [later this year](https://www.astrobotic.com/griffin-1-mission-update/). It will deploy the [FLIP rover](https://www.astrolab.space/flip-rover/) by Astrolab (a Moon Monday sponsor), which got [manifested last year](https://jatan.space/moon-monday-issue-212/) after NASA [decided not to fly](https://jatan.space/nasa-clps-moon-missions/#viper-rover-delivery-by-astrobotic) the critical [VIPER rover](https://jatan.space/nasa-viper-mission/) for studying water ice aboard Griffin. NASA has now [tentatively chosen](https://jatan.space/moon-monday-issue-243/) Blue Origin’s second Mark I lander to *hopefully* fly VIPER in 2027. ![](https://jatan.space/content/images/2026/01/chandrayaan-5lupex-rover-instruments.jpg) The joint Indo-Japanese LUPEX lunar rover plans to carry instruments from multiple space countries. [Image: JAXA / M. Ohtake, et al.](https://www.hou.usra.edu/meetings/lpsc2025/pdf/1918.pdf) - The joint ISRO-JAXA [Chandrayaan 5 / LUPEX](https://jatan.space/indian-space-issue-25/) rover mission later this decade plans to drill and analyze water ice on the Moon’s south pole. The mission will bring a giant leap in lunar capabilities for both ISRO and JAXA, and it can provide NASA with [critical data that is currently missing](https://jatan.space/moon-monday-issue-221/) in Artemis planning. - As an aside, ispace’s European subsidiary led team won a \~[€2.7 million ESA contract](https://ispace-inc.com/news-en/?p=7846) to collaborate with the agency on the [MAGPIE rover mission](https://jatan.space/moon-monday-issue-228/#two-new-european-moon-missions) to study lunar polar water ice and other such volatiles. The mission is not official yet. *Update from June 2026:* UAE is planning a similar mission with the [Rashid 3 rover](https://www.hou.usra.edu/meetings/leag2024/pdf/5070.pdf). ## Astronaut support ![](https://jatan.space/content/images/2026/01/nasa-ltv-infographic-draft.jpg) Desired capabilities of the upcoming Artemis Lunar Terrain Vehicle for astronauts. [Image: NASA](https://sam.gov/api/prod/opps/v3/opportunities/resources/files/90f14b078fad4da587e2f6fbbfe60768/download?&token=) - *Update from May 2026:* NASA awarded [crew-capable rover contracts](https://www.nasa.gov/news-release/nasa-provides-update-on-moon-base-rovers-landers-missions/) to Astrolab (a Moon Monday sponsor) and Lunar Outpost respectively. These \~1000-kilogram “Lunar Terrain Vehicles” (LTVs) will be [more advanced than the rover driven by Apollo astronauts](https://jatan.space/moon-monday-issue-171/), capable of long range exploration and site scouting with many onboard instruments. - China is [progressing with prototypes](http://english.spacechina.com/n17212/c4216269/content.html) of a competitively sourced [crewed rover](https://jatan.space/moon-monday-issue-200/) to be used during the country’s ambitious [first human Moon landing](https://jatan.space/moon-monday-issue-237/) by 2030. - JAXA will provide NASA with an [even more advanced rover](https://jatan.space/moon-monday-issue-172/) next decade, which will be pressurized, enabling astronauts to spend weeks in it. In return, NASA has agreed to land two Japanese astronauts on the Moon. - CSA wants in on that strategy too. The agency has, so far, awarded [initial study contracts](https://www.canada.ca/en/space-agency/news/2025/07/canadas-new-lunar-utility-rover-will-help-astronauts-build-a-future-on-the-moon.html) totaling $10.6 million to three companies—Canadensys, MDA Space, and Mission Control—towards developing a “Lunar Utility Vehicle” (LUV). This kickstarted Canada’s [intent from 2023](https://www.asc-csa.gc.ca/eng/news/articles/2023/2023-03-29-significant-investments-to-further-propel-canadian-space-exploration.asp) to invest $1.2 billion over 13 years to develop an assistance rover for future Artemis astronauts. Canada hopes that [just like how](https://www.canada.ca/en/space-agency/news/2020/12/a-canadian-astronaut-will-fly-to-the-moon.html) contributing their [Canadarm3](https://asc-csa.gc.ca/eng/canadarm3/about.asp) robotics servicing system to the upcoming NASA-led [Gateway lunar orbital habitat](https://www.nasa.gov/mission/gateway) bagged seats for their astronauts on circumlunar Artemis missions, contributing a large, durable LUV rover for Artemis surface missions will enable a Canadian to walk on the Moon. - While not a rover, Italy’s 15,000-kilogram [astronaut habitat module](https://www.thalesgroup.com/en/worldwide/space/press%5Frelease/thales-alenia-space-signs-contract-italian-space-agency-asi-develop) being made for [Artemis Basecamp](https://www.nasa.gov/feature/nasa-outlines-lunar-surface-sustainability-concept) usage next decade will have wheels so it can reposition itself as needed on the [dynamically lit](https://www.nasa.gov/ames/feature/the-dark-side-of-the-crater-how-light-looks-different-on-the-moon-and-what-nasa-is-doing) lunar polar surface. --- *So that was a comprehensive look at all the rovers promising to explore the Moon over the next 10 years. 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