Griffin-1 lunar lander completes JPL environmental tests

Voyager Technologies’ Griffin-1 lunar lander has completed environmental testing at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California, NASA/JPL reported October 13.

The campaign checked how the spacecraft handles launch vibration and noise, electromagnetic interference, and the temperature extremes and vacuum it will encounter in space. Engineers also measured its mass properties to assess movement during flight and landing.

Griffin-1 has returned to the company’s facility for final assembly. NASA says launch-readiness work and shipment to Cape Canaveral are next. Completing these tests is a preparation milestone; it does not mean the spacecraft has launched or landed.

NASA expects the mission to launch later in 2026 aboard a Falcon Heavy rocket under its Commercial Lunar Payload Services initiative. The lander is intended to deliver science and technology payloads near the lunar South Pole.

The accompanying photograph shows testing at JPL on August 31, 2026. It is a dated test image, not a launch photograph.

Sources

• NASA / Jet Propulsion Laboratory — October13,2026, primary report
• Photo: NASA/JPL-Caltech — Griffin-1 thermal-vacuum testing, August31,2026; crop/vector layout, no endorsement
• NASA editorial image-use guidance