Deployable Lunar Hopper (Hopper-TP)

Completed NASA Game Changing Development project led by Johnson Space Center with Intuitive Machines, Nokia of America Corporation, and Arizona State University-Downtown Phoenix support. The lunar deployable hopper project developed, assembled, tested, and operated the small robotic µ-Nova hopper, which flew to the lunar surface in early 2025 on Intuitive Machines Nova-C lander during IM-2. Surface operations were constrained by the lander off-nominal landing orientation, so the hopper did not deploy. The design remains a low-cost CLPS secondary payload for extreme lunar locations: it can operate in a permanently shadowed region for a limited duration, autonomously fly into and out of PSRs, carry up to 10 kg depending on range, and hop payloads up to 25 km with the current tank configuration while relaying data through a lander or orbital asset.