NASA picks 3 companies to develop lunar terrain vehicle for Artemis astronauts

HOUSTON – NASA picked three companies to develop a terrain vehicle for the moon Wednesday, including the company that sent a lunar lander there in February.

NASA announced Intuitive Machines, Lunar Outpost and Venturi Astrolab as the companies to develop the moon buggy for the Artemis missions.

NASA began seeking proposals for the development of a next-generation Lunar Terrain Vehicle, or LTV, in May. Instead of creating and owning the vehicle, NASA said in a statement that it’s opting to take advantage of commercial innovation for ideal value to U.S. taxpayers in furthering its human spaceflight scientific and exploration goals.

“We want to leverage (the) industry’s knowledge and innovation, combined with NASA’s history of successfully operating rovers, to make the best possible surface rover for our astronaut crews and scientific researchers,” Lara Kearney, manager of NASA’s Extravehicular Activity and Human Surface Mobility program at the agency’s Johnson Space Center in Houston, said in a statement.

The goal is to develop an LTV which is a cross between an Apollo-style lunar rover and a Mars-style uncrewed rover, NASA said. This way, science operations can continue on the moon without a human behind the wheel — that is if a wheel should even be incorporated into the final design.

As far as a rubric, NASA has asked that the proposals account for end-to-end services, meaning the company or companies chosen will be charged with everything from “development and delivery to the lunar surface, to execution of operations.”

Each rover must be able to carry two suited astronauts, accommodate a robotic arm or mechanism to support science exploration, and survive the extreme temperatures at the lunar South Pole. The company will be asked to successfully demonstrate the LTV in the lunar environment prior to using it in a crewed capacity.

NASA Pursues Lunar Terrain Vehicle Services for Artemis Missions | May 26, 2023 (excerpt)

Each of the companies will do a year-long special study to develop a system for NASA’s needs. NASA will then issue a subsequent request for a demonstration mission. In the end, only one provider will get the award for the demonstration, NASA said. In addition to supporting crews on the moon, the LTV will also have to operate remotely when needed.

The LTV will make its lunar debut starting with Artemis V in 2029, NASA said.

Each project is a collaboration of different companies to create a vehicle that can handle the moon’s rough conditions.

Intuitive Machines is the company that sent the Odysseus lander to the moon in February. The lander was the first U.S. spacecraft to land on the moon since the Apollo astronauts. The lander broke a leg on touch down and tipped over near the lunar south pole. It was still able to transmit information and pictures to Earth until it finally fell silent.

The company is working with AVL, Boeing, Michelin and Northrup Grumman for its Moonracer vehicle.

Lunar Outpost is a mobility company that is working on sending four lunar rovers to the moon in the next few years. Their LTV team includes Lockheed Martin, GM, MDA Space and Goodyear on its Lunar Dawn vehicle.

Venturi Astrolab is building a fleet of planetary rovers for both people and cargo. The company is working on an LTV with Axiom Space and Odyssey Space Research, called the Flexible Logistics in Exploration rover, or Flex.

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