# Is NASA Replacing the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter Through CLPS?

Three more [Commercial Lunar Payload Services (CLPS)](https://orbital-intel.com/glossary/clps) task orders are coming before year-end — and one of them is an orbiter contract that both [Firefly Aerospace](https://orbital-intel.com/companies/firefly-aerospace) and [Intuitive Machines](https://orbital-intel.com/companies/intuitive-machines) expect to replace the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter, which has operated continuously since 2009 and runs under an extended mission through 2028. The disclosure came from the CEOs of both companies during separate August earnings calls, making this the clearest public signal yet that NASA intends to commercialize its next-generation lunar mapping capability. Two additional task orders will cover lander missions. NASA has not formally confirmed any of the three awards.

The orbiter announcement carries real strategic weight: LRO's high-resolution imaging supports every lander mission targeting the lunar surface, and a gap in that coverage — or a degraded asset — would directly affect the cadence and safety margins of future surface operations. Both companies are already embedded in the LRO ecosystem, which shapes how this competition is likely to unfold.

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## What the Earnings Calls Actually Said

Firefly CEO Jason Kim, speaking on his company's Aug. 12 earnings call, described the upcoming award as an "orbiter imaging service." Intuitive Machines CEO Steve Altemus, during his company's Aug. 14 earnings call, was more specific: a task order expected "later this summer or in early fall" for "the orbiter surveyor to map the moon in replacement of the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter."

That language — "in replacement of" — is notable. NASA has not publicly disclosed plans for an LRO successor through any program, CLPS or otherwise. The agency's CLPS mission timeline page is acknowledged to be incomplete, lacking several recent awards and carrying stale dates for others. The fact that both CEOs described the same forthcoming award in consistent terms on consecutive earnings calls suggests the solicitation is sufficiently mature that both companies are already deep in planning.

A 2022 Lunar Exploration Analysis Group report flagged the urgency bluntly: "Plans for a next-generation long-lived integrated orbiter with modern instruments that can replace the highly productive LRO (launched in 2009) are long overdue." That assessment is now four years old.

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## Competitive Positioning: Both Companies Have LRO DNA

This is not a wide-open competition. Both frontrunners have direct operational ties to LRO's existing instrumentation.

Intuitive Machines holds a NASA contract to manage operations of LRO's high-resolution camera — the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter Camera, or LROC — and also operates ShadowCam, a NASA-developed camera flying on South Korea's Danuri lunar orbiter. That heritage gives the company direct experience with the science requirements any replacement would need to meet.

Firefly, meanwhile, announced in 2025 its intent to develop a commercial lunar imaging service called **Ocula**, using cameras mounted on the company's **Elytra** spacecraft. Elytra is designed to accompany Blue Ghost lander missions, giving Firefly a modular platform already conceived for cislunar imaging work.

Both companies also carry backlogs of four CLPS lander missions each — a workload level that raises legitimate questions about whether either can absorb a complex orbiter program on top of accelerated lander production commitments.

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## The CS-8 Task Order: Standardizing the Lander Production Line

Separate from the orbiter discussion, both companies detailed the CS-8 task order awarded in June, which covered four landers split between Firefly, Intuitive Machines, and Astrobotic (now operating as Voyager Lunar Systems). The four landers under CS-8 carry an identical instrument suite — a deliberate departure from the bespoke, mission-by-mission approach that characterized earlier CLPS awards.

Kim framed the CS-8 architecture explicitly: "The primary goal of this mission is to demonstrate repeatable access to the lunar surface on an accelerated timeline, executing the mission in half the time of our first landing." He added that Firefly has more than quadrupled its cleanroom space to support the accelerated production tempo.

Altemus described his company's CS-8 proposal as built around a 26-month schedule and said Intuitive Machines has added 75,000 square feet of production space at its Houston headquarters. That facility will support both lander builds and the company's planned constellation of five lunar data relay satellites.

The shift toward standardized landers is the more significant industrial development here. If repeatable 26-month build cycles become the norm, the cost structure of the entire CLPS program changes — and so does the competitive moat for incumbents who have already paid the NRE costs for their baseline designs.

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## CLPS 2.0: A $10 Billion Ceiling and Larger Landers

Both companies confirmed they are bidding on CLPS 2.0, the follow-on contract with a maximum value of $10 billion over 10 years, with an option for a five-year extension that would increase the ceiling by $5 billion. Proposals were due to NASA at the end of June.

The lander capacity requirements for CLPS 2.0 are substantially larger than the current generation. Intuitive Machines' Nova-C lander — the workhorse of the current program — carries approximately 100 kilograms to the surface. The company won a task order in March for the IM-6 mission using its larger Nova-D lander, which can deliver approximately 500 kilograms. Altemus said the company is considering building a second Nova-D in parallel with the IM-6 lander, anticipating an award in the same 2029 timeframe.

Looking further out, Altemus said NASA is calling for landers capable of delivering two to five metric tons to the lunar surface to support base logistics. Intuitive Machines is evaluating a revised three-engine configuration for Nova-D that would push surface delivery capacity to approximately one metric ton — a stepping stone toward heavier cargo, not the destination.

Altemus also said he expects a final task order under the original CLPS contract — designated CP-32 — to be awarded early next year, before the program formally transitions to CLPS 2.0.

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## Industry Trajectory: What This Signals

The orbiter task order, if awarded as described, marks a meaningful expansion of CLPS scope. The program started with landers carrying science payloads; it is now being used — at least tentatively — to procure persistent [cislunar space](https://orbital-intel.com/glossary/cislunar) infrastructure that NASA historically built and operated itself.

That carries both opportunity and risk. Commercially procured orbital assets are generally faster to field and cheaper to operate than government-built spacecraft. But the CLPS model's opacity — no source selection statements, an incomplete public timeline, minimal pre-award disclosure — makes it genuinely difficult for the broader industry to assess which opportunities are real, what the performance requirements are, and what the competitive field looks like until a contract is announced.

For satellite operators and Earth observation companies watching [cislunar space](https://orbital-intel.com/glossary/cislunar) develop as a market: a commercially operated lunar mapping orbiter would be the first persistent, commercially managed asset in cislunar orbit with a defined government customer. That's a reference architecture worth tracking.

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## Key Takeaways

- NASA plans to award three CLPS task orders by year-end: two lander missions and one "orbiter imaging service" expected to replace LRO, per Firefly and Intuitive Machines CEOs speaking on Aug. 12 and Aug. 14 earnings calls respectively.
- LRO has operated since 2009 and runs under an extended mission through 2028; the Lunar Exploration Analysis Group flagged the need for a replacement as "long overdue" in 2022.
- Both Firefly (Ocula/Elytra) and Intuitive Machines (LRO camera operations, ShadowCam) have direct ties to lunar orbital imaging — narrowing the likely competitive field.
- CS-8 task order awarded in June covers four standardized landers across Firefly, Intuitive Machines, and Voyager Lunar Systems, with a 26-month target build schedule signaling a shift toward production-line cadence.
- CLPS 2.0 carries a $10 billion ceiling over 10 years (with a $5 billion extension option); both companies are bidding with larger lander designs targeting up to five metric tons surface delivery capacity.
- Intuitive Machines has added 75,000 square feet of production space in Houston; Firefly has more than quadrupled its cleanroom capacity.

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## Frequently Asked Questions

**What is the CLPS program and who has successfully landed on the moon through it?**
CLPS — Commercial Lunar Payload Services — is NASA's program for purchasing lunar delivery and services from commercial providers. As of mid-2026, Firefly Aerospace and Intuitive Machines are the two companies that have successfully landed spacecraft on the moon through the program.

**Why does LRO need to be replaced?**
LRO launched in 2009 and operates under an extended mission through 2028. The spacecraft is aging, and lunar scientists and the Lunar Exploration Analysis Group have argued for years that a successor with modern instruments is needed to continue high-resolution surface mapping in support of both science and future crewed and robotic lander missions.

**Will NASA replace LRO with a government-built spacecraft or a commercial one?**
Based on disclosures from Firefly and Intuitive Machines CEOs in August 2026, NASA appears to be pursuing a commercial orbiter through a CLPS task order rather than a traditional government-built program. NASA has not formally confirmed this or released details about the solicitation.

**What is CLPS 2.0 and when does it take effect?**
CLPS 2.0 is the follow-on to the current CLPS contract, with a maximum value of $10 billion over 10 years and an option extending that by $5 billion. Proposals were due to NASA at the end of June 2026. A final task order under the original contract (CP-32) is expected to be awarded in early 2027 before the transition.

**What payload capacities are the next-generation CLPS landers targeting?**
Current landers like Intuitive Machines' Nova-C carry roughly 100 kilograms. The Nova-D, flying on IM-6, targets approximately 500 kilograms. NASA's stated requirements for lunar base logistics go up to two to five metric tons, which will require new propulsion and structural development from both incumbents and any new CLPS 2.0 entrants.