CAMBRIDGE, Mass. — NASA has chosen three firms to work on lunar rover ideas that might be provided as a service for Artemis lunar landings and scientific actions.
NASA introduced April 3 it picked groups led by Intuitive Machines, Lunar Outpost and Venturi Astrolab for its Lunar Terrain Automobile (LTV) Providers contract. The contract covers work to design and develop rovers that might be utilized by astronauts on Artemis missions beginning with Artemis 5 on the finish of the last decade. The rovers could be offered by the businesses to NASA as a service, in a lot the identical method the company is procuring spacesuits and lunar landers.
Whereas the first function of the LTV might be to move astronauts throughout the lunar floor, NASA expects to additionally teleoperate the rover, permitting it to carry out scientific investigations when astronauts are usually not current. “Consider a hybrid of the Apollo-style lunar rover that was pushed by our astronauts and an uncrewed cellular science platform,” stated Vanessa Wyche, director of NASA’s Johnson Area Middle, at a briefing to announce the contract alternatives.
“The objective is to have the ability to conduct analysis with astronauts, transfer astronauts round, assist them get to areas they wouldn’t in any other case be capable to attain, after which to conduct continued exploration and science after they’ve departed,” stated Jacob Bleacher, chief exploration scientist at NASA Headquarters.
Intuitive Machines is main a staff referred to as Moon RACER, or Reusable Autonomous Crewed Exploration Rover, that features AVL and Michelin from the automotive business and Boeing and Northrop Grumman. The lander could be delivered on a Nova-D lander that Intuitive Machines is constructing, a bigger model of the Nova-C lander that it landed on the moon in February.
Lunar Outpost, a startup presently engaged on 4 small robotic rovers, is main a staff referred to as Lunar Daybreak that features Lockheed Martin, MDA Area, Normal Motors and Goodyear. Whereas Lockheed and MDA Area will present experience in spacecraft design and robotics, GM will supply battery and associated automotive applied sciences and Goodyear will present tires.
Venturi Astrolab is providing its FLEX rover, a robotic model of which it plans to ship to the moon on a SpaceX Starship mission in late 2026. It’s working with Axiom Area and Odyssey Area Analysis on its LTV award.
Executives with the three successful firms didn’t supply many technical particulars about their rovers, partly as a result of they nonetheless have work to do refining their design. “There are a variety of the subsystems that we’ve put in because the preliminary design that might be traded” over the subsequent yr, stated Steve Altemus, chief govt of Intuitive Machines. These subsystems, he stated, vary from energy to the rover’s suspension system.
Jaret Matthews, chief govt of Astrolab, famous the corporate has constructed a full-sized terrestrial prototype of its FLEX rover that it has pushed for hundreds of hours, together with area checks in Dying Valley, California. “We’re coming into this with a variety of expertise already with the applied sciences we’re planning to use right here,” he stated. “We intend to exceed NASA’s necessities.”
Justin Cyrus, chief govt of Lunar Outpost, cited aggressive components for not going into specifics in regards to the design, aside from to emphasise the Goodyear-developed tires. “I’m actually excited to see how they will deliver a number of the know-how that we’re utilizing as a part of LTVS again down right here to Earth,” he stated. “I need a set of these tires for my very own offroad automobile.”
Sustaining competitors
Whereas the general LTV Providers contract has a most worth of $4.6 billion over 15 years, the three firms have to date obtained solely small activity orders for what Lara Kearney, supervisor of NASA’s Extravehicular Exercise and Human Floor Mobility Program, referred to as a “feasibility part” to mature the rovers’ designs to a preliminary design overview over the subsequent yr.
She declined to offer the worth of these activity orders as a result of the company was nonetheless in a procurement “blackout” interval. Nevertheless, Intuitive Machines stated in its launch in regards to the contract that its activity order was value $30 million.
After these feasibility research, NASA will solicit proposals from the three firms for a “demonstration” activity order. That might help ultimate growth of the rover and supply to the south polar areas of the moon, the place it could be examined remotely earlier than the Artemis 5 mission arrives.
Kearney stated NASA expects to pick solely one of many three firms for the demonstration activity order. Afterwards, it’s going to buy LTV companies from the corporate on an annual foundation for each crewed and uncrewed rover actions.
NASA, in its embrace of business companies, has emphasised competitors, with two or extra suppliers for cargo and crew transportation to the Worldwide Area Station in addition to the Human Touchdown Providers program for crewed Artemis landers and growth of Artemis and ISS spacesuits. NASA method for LTV, although, suggests it’s going to depend on a single firm.
Kearney stated NASA’s present method “relies on out there budgets,” however added there could also be alternatives for future competitors. “This contract mechanism is awfully versatile,” she stated, with the power to award extra activity orders in addition to an on-ramp clause to deliver on new suppliers. “We now have a contract mechanism that can permit firms to proceed to compete for future demonstrations and repair durations.”
NASA declined to reveal the variety of LTV proposals it obtained, citing a procurement blackout. Nevertheless, entries in a federal procurement database for the contract point out the company obtained 9 proposals, however doesn’t determine the shedding bidders.
One firm not chosen that beforehand stated it was within the LTV competitors was Leidos, which unveiled a prototype of its rover design almost a yr in the past, working with each automotive and aerospace firms. One other associate was racing firm NASCAR, which Leidos stated it introduced in each for its technical experience in addition to its expertise with company sponsorships.
An organization that develops an LTV rover for NASA will even be capable to supply it to non-NASA clients. “We consider within the early part that NASA should be considerably of an anchor tenant,” Kearney stated. “We hope that, over the 10-year working lifetime of this automobile, we will begin bringing in increasingly more business requests because the market evolves.”
She stated NASA expects initially to make use of 75% of the rover’s capability for crewed or robotic operations, with the remaining 25% out there for business makes use of. Over the course of the contract, NASA anticipates its share of rover time will decline as business demand grows.
Bleacher stated he was wanting to see how LTV might advance lunar science, both by supporting astronauts or via robotic operations. “I prefer to think about the views and the vistas that the LTV will allow us to see from the floor of the moon,” he stated. “Its mobility will basically change our view of the moon.”
