CAMBRIDGE, Mass. — NASA has selected three companies to work on lunar rover concepts that would be offered as a service for Artemis lunar landings and scientific activities.
NASA announced April 3 it picked teams led by Intuitive Machines, Lunar Outpost and Venturi Astrolab for its Lunar Terrain Vehicle (LTV) Services contract. The contract covers work to design and develop rovers that would be used by astronauts on Artemis missions starting with Artemis 5 at the end of the decade. The rovers would be provided by the companies to NASA as a service, in much the same way the agency is procuring spacesuits and lunar landers.
While the primary purpose of the LTV will be to transport astronauts across the lunar surface, NASA expects to also teleoperate the rover, allowing it to perform scientific investigations when astronauts are not present. “Think of a hybrid of the Apollo-style lunar rover that was driven by our astronauts and an uncrewed mobile science platform,” said Vanessa Wyche, director of NASA’s Johnson Space Center, at a briefing to announce the contract selections.
“The goal is to be able to conduct research with astronauts, move astronauts around, help them get to locations they wouldn’t otherwise be able to reach, and then to conduct continued exploration and science after they’ve departed,” said Jacob Bleacher, chief exploration scientist at NASA Headquarters.
Intuitive Machines is leading a team called Moon RACER, or Reusable Autonomous Crewed Exploration Rover, that includes AVL and Michelin from the automotive industry and Boeing and Northrop Grumman. The lander would be delivered on a Nova-D lander that Intuitive Machines is building, a larger version of the Nova-C lander that it landed on the moon in February.
Lunar Outpost, a startup currently working on four small robotic rovers,…
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