# NASA keeps its PROMISE to raid Mars testbeds for parts

- URL: https://talkfuse.com/story/nasa-keeps-its-promise-to-raid-mars-testbeds-for-parts/
- Published: 2026-11-09T15:45:00+00:00
- Updated: 2026-11-09T16:12:04+00:00
- Original publisher: The Register
- Original article: https://www.theregister.com/science/2026/11/09/nasa-keeps-its-promise-to-raid-mars-testbeds-for-parts/5308475
- Topics: Space, Technology

## Key points

- NASA aims to repurpose Mars rover test hardware for a lunar mission.
- PROMISE is planned to land by late 2028 and work for 18 months.
- NASA puts the rover and landing cost below $400 million.

## Summary

NASA plans to adapt engineering hardware built for its Curiosity and Perseverance Mars rovers into PROMISE, a lunar rover intended to explore the Moon’s south pole. The mission is planned to reach the Moon by late 2028 and operate for 18 months, extending NASA’s robotic exploration there.

PROMISE will carry copies of instruments developed for VIPER, including a drill that can bore one metre into the lunar soil, and use a radioisotope generator left over from the Cassini mission. Blue Origin is contracted to deliver it using its Mark 1 lander; NASA says the rover and landing are expected to cost under $400 million. That is below an earlier estimate of at least $723 million, though the article notes uncertainty over the full cost and concerns about taking hardware from the Mars programme.

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