NASA has officially terminated the Lunar Trailblazer mission, small orbital satellite, intended for mapping water resources on the Moon, after five months of unsuccessful attempts to reconnect, lost a day after launch 26 February 2025 year. This failure was another blow to NASA's SIMPLEx program (Small Innovative Missions for Planetary Exploration), which is aimed at creating economically effective planetary missions.
Mission details and challenges
Lunar Trailblazer, developed by Lockheed Martin based on the Curio platform, had mass 200 kg and dimensions 3,5 m in the unfolded state. The satellite was equipped with two instruments:
- HVM³ (High-resolution Volatiles and Minerals Moon Mapper) from NASA JPL to create water and hydroxyl distribution maps.
- LTM (Lunar Thermal Mapper) from the University of Oxford to measure surface temperatures and mineralogical composition.
Mission worth 94,1 million dollars was intended to support the Artemis program by locating water ice at the lunar south pole. The launch took place on a SpaceX Falcon rocket 9 along with the Intuitive Machines IM-2 lunar lander as part of the CLPS program. However, a day after the start, the telemetry showed, that the satellite rotated slowly and had a low charge level due to the inability to properly orient the solar panels. The team used the Deep Space Network and ground-based observatories to track orientation, but until the middle of June favorable lighting conditions did not allow to restore communication.
Recovery attempts
For five months, a team led by Caltech and JPL tried to regain control, hoping, that changing the angle of sunlight will allow the batteries to be charged. In May 2025 year NASA reported, that by mid-June the lighting could be sufficient for recharging, but these efforts were unsuccessful. Alternative strategies for trajectory correction (TCM) for launch into lunar orbit could not be implemented due to lack of communication. 31 In July, NASA officially announced the end of the mission, recognizing the impossibility of fulfilling scientific goals.
Context and implications
Lunar Trailblazer was one of three missions of the SIMPLEx program, selected from 2019 year together with Janus and EscaPADE, with a strict budget limit in 55 millions of dollars (increased to 94,1 million due to cost overruns by Lockheed Martin). The mission ran into problems even before launch: in 2020 Ball Aerospace was replaced by Lockheed Martin due to design and budget issues, a u 2022 In 2016, NASA conducted a review due to cost overruns. Launch, originally scheduled for 2023 year with IMAP, was transferred to 2025 a year due to delays in the main mission, which forced NASA to find an alternative launch with IM-2.
The Lunar Trailblazer failure highlights the risks of the SIMPLEx program, which allows a higher level of risk to reduce costs. This is the second failure in a row for CLPS, following problems with the Athena lander (IM-2), which overturned after landing. At the same time, other missions, such as the ShadowCam on the Korean KPLO orbiter, continue to successfully map water ice on the Moon.
Future and lessons
Technologies, designed for the Lunar Trailblazer, including the Curio platform and the HVM³ and LTM tools, will be used in future missions. Data, obtained during a short period of operation, will help to improve methods of managing small satellites. NASA plans to review approach to SIMPLEx, given the decal inspection recommendation 2022 of the year on increasing the budget limit by 50% to reduce risks. The mission also highlighted the difficulty of using joint launches (rideshare), where delays in primary missions affect secondary workloads.
Source: https://spacenews.com