BIRMINGHAM, Ala. — NASA has selected the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) to develop and manage the Lunar Freezer System (LFS), a mission-critical infrastructure component for the agency’s Artemis campaign. The Indefinite-Delivery/Indefinite-Quantity (IDIQ) award, which carries a potential total value of $37 million, tasks the university with ensuring the integrity of biological and geological samples returned from the Moon.
The contract, which commences on December 4, 2025, includes a 66-month base period with options that could extend the partnership through June 3, 2033. Under the cost-plus-fixed-fee structure, UAB will design, build, and certify the hardware and software systems required to maintain strict thermal control of science payloads during transit from the lunar surface to Earth.
Securing the Artemis “Cold Chain”: While launch vehicles and landers dominate the Artemis headlines, the LFS represents a pivot toward the “utilization” phase of the lunar campaign. For Artemis III and beyond to yield viable biological data, samples must be kept in a pristine, frozen state despite the harsh radiation and thermal environments of deep space.
According to procurement documents, the LFS must support three primary categories of payload:
- Lunar geological samples (volatiles).
- Human research samples (crew health biomarkers).
- Biological experimentation samples (life sciences).
The system must operate autonomously aboard the Orion spacecraft or potential commercial return vehicles, maintaining temperature stability—likely in the -85°C range standard for deep-freeze stowage—throughout the multi-day return trajectory and splashdown recovery operations.
Incumbent Advantage: The award solidifies UAB’s Engineering and Innovative Technology Development (EITD) group as the undisputed leader in NASA’s orbital cold stowage architecture. UAB has long served as the prime contractor for the International Space Station’s (ISS) cold chain, managing the MERLIN (Microgravity Experiment Research Locker Incubator) and GLACIER (General Laboratory Active Cryogenic ISS Experiment Refrigerator) units.
By selecting UAB rather than a traditional aerospace defense prime, NASA is leveraging an existing, flight-proven operational center that already handles the logistics of sample return for the ISS National Lab. This continuity reduces technical risk for Artemis, ensuring that the “science return” matches the “sample return.”
Strategic Impact: The 2033 horizon of the contract indicates that UAB’s hardware will be a standard fixture on Artemis missions well into the operational phase of the Lunar Gateway. This award ensures that when astronauts return from the lunar south pole, the science they carry comes back viable.
About UAB EITD The UAB Engineering and Innovative Technology Development (EITD) group specializes in the design and deployment of payloads for extreme environments. They provide continuous monitoring and control of cold stowage assets aboard the ISS, enabling pharmaceutical and biological research in microgravity.