ispace-U.S. joins NASA CLPS vendor pool to compete for Moon deliveries

On Saturday, Nov. 7, 2026, NASA selected eight companies including Colorado-based ispace-U.S. to compete for payload deliveries to the moon under Commercial Lunar Payload Services phase two.

NASA plans to provide up to 10 billion dollars through CLPS 2 task orders for Moon Base development and Artemis human lunar return. Ordering under the CLPS 2 IDIQ contract runs for a 10-year base period plus a 5-year option, capped at 10 billion dollars. The phase replaces the original IDIQ vehicle under which NASA has issued commercial lunar delivery task orders since 2018.

The phase follows the original CLPS 1.0 indefinite delivery contract under which NASA has ordered robotic lunar deliveries since 2018. NASA also aims to return astronauts to the moon through Artemis. The agency has issued commercial providers task orders for robotic lunar delivery missions under CLPS 1.0 since 2018. That earlier contract is an indefinite delivery indefinite quantity contract used for robotic lunar delivery missions starting in 2018.

The seven other CLPS 2 vendors include Blue Origin, Firefly Aerospace, Intuitive Machines, Lockheed Martin, Northrop Grumman, SpaceX and Voyager Technologies, all existing first-phase vendors.

In the past, ispace-U.S. flew NASA delivery missions under CLPS 1.0 as a subcontractor, while the new phase lets it bid for work as the main contractor. Under the CLPS 2 IDIQ master contract, ispace-U.S. may submit bids for future NASA task orders as a prime contractor. Under the earlier CLPS 1.0 arrangement, ispace-U.S. handled NASA deliveries as a subcontractor instead of competing directly for task orders.

Selection for the IDIQ does not guarantee funding. The company must win separate task orders when NASA releases them.

For upcoming CLPS 2 task orders, the company plans to offer the ULTRA lander now under development and testing. ULTRA merges the older HAKUTO lander design with the APEX vehicle that ispace-U.S. had earlier been developing. Kryst said ispace will propose the combined lander design for CLPS 2 missions.

Bretton Alexander, executive vice president of business development at ispace-U.S., described ULTRA as a reliable and affordable way for NASA to reach any lunar location for science and technology demonstrations. Alexander said ispace-U.S. welcomes the opportunity to help NASA’s Moon Base Program with its ULTRA lander.

ispace-U.S. has spent over 200 million dollars on lunar mission development and related technical capabilities. The spending supports work at the company’s Denver headquarters and draws on Japanese lunar mission experience.

The Denver base includes spacecraft assembly, integration and test facilities plus mission operations staff spanning engineering, production, testing and flight work. The headquarters also supports ispace-U.S.’s ULTRA lander program and relies on experience from the company’s Japan site.

The Japanese site has already flown two lunar missions. ULTRA development draws on Japan-based lunar lander work, including two missions already flown by ispace there.

The Colorado subsidiary has not yet dispatched its own lander to the moon. The Japanese parent firm launched two HAKUTO landers toward the moon in 2023 and 2025, and both failed during descent because of technical problems. Ispace continues to review and investigate the problems on the two earlier missions.

In 2025 the company established an outside review board led by Alan Stern, the New Horizons principal investigator, to examine the two lunar crashes. The company described the board’s purpose at the time as improving future mission success.

Elizabeth Kryst, CEO of ispace-U.S., said in an interview at NASA’s MAX POWER event that the company is investing heavily and doing everything within its control to achieve a soft landing next time. Kryst also said world-renowned experts are studying factors including landings and regolith plumes from engine touchdown.

ispace flies every lunar mission autonomously, with no human controller involved. Kryst said building a lunar base without a human in the loop is difficult because we know little about the lighting constraints of permanently shadowed regions.

A separate program named Lunar Connect will field five lunar communications satellites, with liftoff of the first set for 2027. The satellite project runs alongside ispace’s lunar lander development work.