NASA/JPL-Caltech
Description
A lunar lander from Voyager Technologies completed nearly three months of environmental testing at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California in late September 2026. The tests demonstrate that the spacecraft is prepared to face the harsh conditions of launch, its journey to the Moon, and landing on the surface. Its final trial was in JPL’s historic 25-Foot Space Simulator, a thermal vacuum chamber listed on the National Register of Historic Places for its role in supporting historic missions like those of the Ranger, Surveyor, Mariner, and Voyager programs.
Engineers and technicians on Aug. 31, 2026, used a crane to position the spacecraft within the towering chamber, where Griffin-1 alternately baked at up to 167 degrees Fahrenheit (75 degrees Celsius) and froze at temperatures as low as minus 148 F (minus 100 C). This thermal vacuum testing simulates the extreme temperatures the spacecraft will experience during its mission. The yellow-striped box atop the lander simulates a payload that will later be attached to the spacecraft: Astrolab’s FLIP (FLEX Lunar Innovation Platform) rover.
In Figure A, engineers and technicians move Griffin-1 through a hallway leading to the 25-Foot Space Simulator on Aug. 31. The corridor is lined with photographs of some of the historic spacecraft that have been tested in the facility since the 1960s.
Figure B shows Griffin-1 on July 29 in an anechoic chamber for electromagnetic interference and electromagnetic compatibility testing, which ensures signals from the spacecraft’s electronic components don’t interfere with one another. Long foam spikes line the chamber walls to absorb sound waves and electromagnetic waves.
In Figure C, taken on July 20, Griffin-1 rotates rapidly on a special table to measure its mass properties, enabling engineers to look for any unexpected wobbles as they assess how the vehicle will move through space — vital information for determining the spacecraft’s readiness for flight and surface operations.
In Figure D, microphones are arrayed around Griffin-1 on Aug. 12 during acoustic testing in which giant horns powered by compressed gaseous nitrogen blast the spacecraft with up to 153 decibels inside the sealed acoustic chamber to mimic the roar of launch.
Griffin-1 also endured vibration testing, during which hundreds of sensors monitored the spacecraft as a “shaker table” rattled it in three directions — with increasingly intense force — to simulate the ride out of Earth’s atmosphere atop a rocket.
After proving its mettle at JPL, Griffin-1 was shipped back across the country to Voyager Lunar Systems’ Pittsburgh facility for final assembly. Part of NASA’s CLPS (Commercial Lunar Payload Services) initiative within the Moon Base Program, Griffin-1 is expected to launch in late 2026 aboard a SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket. The infrastructure-class lander will deliver more than 1,100 pounds (455 kilograms) of cargo — 10 payloads from six countries — to Nobile Crater near the lunar South Pole.
Caltech in Pasadena, California, manages JPL for NASA.
