NASA reveals new lunar rover, PROMISE, to launch to the Moon in 2028

NASA announced plans on Saturday to send a new robotic rover called PROMISE to the Moon in late 2028. The rover is designed to explore the Moon's south pole and help scientists prepare for future human missions. NASA officials said that rovers and other equipment already on the Moon will be key to keeping astronauts safe when they arrive. This announcement was part of a bigger effort by NASA to build a lasting human presence on the Moon.

NASA chief Jared Isaacman spoke at Saturday's event about why this work matters. He said the missions will help the agency better understand an environment humans have not visited in a very long time. 'Every piece of equipment we learn to operate there brings that enduring presence a little bit closer to reality,' he said. In other words, every test and every machine sent to the Moon gets humans one step closer to living there.

PROMISE stands for Polar Rover for Observation, Mapping and In-Situ Exploration. It is modeled after the famous Mars rovers Curiosity and Perseverance, which have explored the surface of Mars for years. The rover will travel to the Moon on a lander built by the company Blue Origin. Its primary mission is planned to last 18 months, during which it will study the Moon's surface and search for useful resources.

The PROMISE rover will carry a drill and other scientific tools. These instruments will study the Moon's soil, called regolith, and measure radiation levels on the surface. It will also take images and collect data much like the Mars rovers do. James Keane, a planetary scientist at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, will lead the PROMISE mission as its project scientist.

Nicky Fox, NASA's top science official, explained why this work is so important. 'NASA Science is very busy getting ready to provide the ultimate interplanetary survival guide,' she said. The science gathered by PROMISE will help NASA figure out how humans can survive on the Moon. Fox called the rover 'a scout' that will check out the area near the lunar south pole before astronauts arrive.

NASA's plan to return humans to the Moon is called the Artemis program. Earlier this year, four astronauts flew around the Moon and back as part of Artemis II, traveling farther from Earth than any humans ever have. The next step, Artemis III, is planned for early 2027 and will test two possible Moon landers — one from Blue Origin and one from SpaceX. After that, Artemis IV aims to put humans back on the Moon for the first time in more than 50 years, with a target date of 2028.

NASA and its partners are also working on many other pieces of Moon infrastructure. A program called Commercial Lunar Payload Services, or CLPS, has already set up 22 orders for landers that will travel to the Moon by the end of this year. Six more orders have been placed under a newer program shortened to VADER. These include a vehicle to carry supplies to the Moon's surface and satellites that will help set up communications on the Moon.

There are even plans to send small hopping drones, called 'MoonFall' drones, near the Moon's south pole. These drones will jump around the surface and send data back to Earth before human crews arrive in that region. The south pole is a part of the Moon that has rarely been explored, so this data will be very valuable. A large rocket called the Blue Origin New Glenn will help deliver these drones.

Companies like SpaceX, Lockheed Martin, Northrop Grumman, Intuitive Machines, and others are also involved in building the next generation of Moon landers. These landers will need to carry heavy loads — up to six metric tons — to support regular human visits. NASA is calling this next phase of the program 'CLPS 2.0.' Moon Base Program manager Carlos García-Galán said the agency now thinks of Moon missions as one long, connected campaign rather than separate events.

Fox summed up the big picture at the end of the event. She said the goal is not just about how many payloads are flown to the Moon, but about the quality and usefulness of the science gathered there. All of these efforts — the PROMISE rover, the landers, the drones, and the satellites — are designed to work together. 'Promise is just the beginning as we continue to lead the world into a new era of paradigm-shifting science and human space exploration for generations to come,' she said.