Astrolab, Interstellar Mapping Partner to Hunt Lunar Water

Astrolab and Interstellar Mapping have formed a partnership to enhance the search for water on the lunar surface, marking Interstellar Mapping’s first collaboration on a U.S. commercial rover mission.

What Happened

Under the new agreement, Interstellar Mapping will conduct subsurface analysis to identify "hydrogen-bearing volatiles," such as water and ice, which are critical for establishing the Moon as a strategic refueling point for future Mars missions. The company’s thermal mapping data will directly inform the operational path of Astrolab’s FLEX Lunar Innovation Platform (FLIP) rover, helping the vehicle target specific areas for surface measurements to maximize the probability of water detection.

Interstellar Mapping CEO Andrew Hazelton emphasized that successful water identification requires more than visiting the coldest or darkest lunar regions. "Understanding what is happening thermally beneath the surface helps us identify where water and other volatiles are most likely to persist," Hazelton stated. The FLIP rover is scheduled to launch in November aboard Astrobotic’s Griffin-1 lander, which will attempt a landing at the lunar south pole under a NASA Commercial Lunar Payload Services (CLPS) contract.

Why It Matters

This collaboration highlights a growing trend in commercial spaceflight where specialized data services are integrated directly into rover operations to improve mission success rates. By leveraging subsurface thermal insights, the partnership aims to de-risk the identification of lunar resources, a key component of NASA’s broader initiative to build a Moon Base. The mission also carries several NASA payloads, including a camera for helium-3 detection, a laser-guided precision tracking system, a sensor for studying lunar dust effects on hardware, and a LiDAR system for 3D surface mapping.

The Bottom Line

Astrolab and Interstellar Mapping are combining subsurface thermal analysis with rover operations to improve the detection of lunar water ahead of the FLIP rover’s November launch on Astrobotic’s Griffin-1 lander.