NASA's SPLICE payload picks a safe landing site on its own in simulated lunar descent tests

4 November 2026

NASA reported promising results from SPLICE, short for Safe and Precise Landing - Integrated Capabilities Evolution. It is a guidance, navigation and control payload meant to let a spacecraft find a safe landing site on the Moon or another planet on its own, land precisely and avoid hazards. The payload maps the terrain, builds high-resolution digital elevation maps from light-detection and sensor data, and diverts the vehicle if the target site is unsafe. SPLICE was developed by NASA's Johnson Space Center at Houston and was integrated, tested and flown with the Armstrong Flight Research Center at Edwards in California. The tests used an Alta-X remotely piloted four-rotor drone and included simulated lunar descent and landing manoeuvres over Rogers Dry Lake. The project manager is Davis Adams, who said the flight raised the technology readiness level for future robotic and crewed lunar flights. NASA is talking to industry about using the guidance system once it enters the agency's software catalog, and several commercial lunar lander firms have already flown versions of SPLICE.