NASA has awarded a Lunar Terrain Vehicle Services (LTVS) contract to the Lunar Dawn team, led by Lunar Outpost as prime contractor, along with its lead partner Lockheed Martin (NYSE:LMT) and technology partners General Motors (GM) , Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company and MDA Space.
The vehicle enables exploration of the Moon's surface in an unprecedented way
This diverse team combines demonstrated expertise in robotics, as well as human space expertise, cutting-edge technology and the strengths of the automotive industry to create a true all-terrain vehicle for living and working on the surface of the Moon.
This state-of-the-art Lunar Terrain Vehicle (LTV) will enable unprecedented exploration of the Moon's surface as part of NASA's Artemis program. It will dramatically extend the distance astronauts can travel from landing sites while conducting emergency scientific investigations on the Moon. When not in use by NASA, LTV will provide commercial services, contributing to a more affordable and sustainable cislunar economy.
“Surface mobility is a critical capability for humanity's future in space, and the Lunar Outpost looks forward to generating value in the cislunar economy by providing a reliable, safe and capable vehicle that will be used to provide mobility to Artemis astronauts and perform critical missions autonomously on the Moon for commercial purposes,” said Justin Cyrus, CEO of Lunar Outpost. “We look forward to leveraging the strengths of Lockheed Martin, a company with extensive experience in advanced human and space systems, and our other industry-leading partners, GM, Goodyear and MDA Space, to provide an unmatched technical offering , at a commercially viable price.”
Lunar Dawn Vehicle
The Lunar Dawn LTV will provide Artemis astronauts with a unique experience based on safety and comfort, including a cockpit design that provides a panoramic view for navigating the challenging lunar environment.
“These unique technologies will enable the critical infrastructure needed for a sustainable presence in space in the future, where people can live and work far from Earth,” said Kirk Shireman, Lockheed Martin's vice president of lunar exploration campaigns. “Lockheed Martin is excited to is combining its expertise with a diverse set of companies to embark on this new generation of rovers that will expand our exploration and understanding of the lunar surface.“
The Lunar Dawn team vehicle exceeds all requirements set by NASA and was designed with mission development capability in mind. Some of the vehicle's capabilities and features include:
• Advanced autonomous navigation and operation with or without astronauts on board.
• Capabilities for robust and diverse commercial use, including a reconfigurable cargo rack that allows payloads to be changed with its robust robotic arm.
• The ability to not only survive but function during two-week long lunar nights with temperatures down to -280 degrees Fahrenheit (-173°C); this new technology extends the mission lifetime from a few days to many years.
Space Industrial Team
The Lunar Dawn team is made up of titans of their respective industries, who were selected for their cutting-edge technology and proven ability to deliver space systems that can reliably operate in the most challenging conditions.
As the leader of the Lunar Dawn team, Lunar Outpost is pioneering a new team paradigm for the space industry. Lunar Outpost brings to this program its speed and agility, track record of equity investors, deep understanding of the commercial market and first-hand experience in the field of lunar rovers. The Lunar Outpost specializes in spaceships and advanced robotic systems. As the only company currently under contract to design four lunar rovers and two already built and qualified, Lunar Outpost is the leading commercial provider of planetary mobility. Lunar Outpost's commercial Lunar Rover missions arriving on the Moon this year will serve as LTVS exploration missions, and will allow the team the exclusive opportunity to test technologies and collect data to further LTV development.
• Lockheed Martin has decades of experience delivering highly complex spacecraft such as manned spaceflight in programs such as Orion, the HLS Cislunar Transporter, and planetary missions such as Lucy and OSIRIS-REx.
• General Motors brings advanced Ultium EV battery technology along with extensive experience in chassis and suspension development. General Motors' experience with lunar surface mobility dates back to when it contributed to the wheels, engine and suspension of NASA's Lunar Rover during the Apollo program.
• Goodyear is developing the rover's tires by leveraging many years of experience in lunar mobility dating back to the Apollo missions.
• MDA Space builds on decades of robotics experience for manned spaceflight and supplies the robotic arm, providing increased versatility in the placement and maintenance of commercial payloads.
Lunar Outpost is an industry leader in lunar surface mobility, commercial space robotics and space resources. From its terrestrial product lines revolutionizing the air quality sector on Earth to creating oxygen on Mars, the company's impact spans the entire solar system. Lunar Outpost's exploration rover, the Mobile Autonomous Prospecting Platform (MAPP), will be the first commercial rover on the Moon and the first rover in history to explore the lunar South Pole.
Since the company's founding in 2017, Lunar Outpost has raised capital from leading investors and continues to attract strong investment partners as it continues to demonstrate the opportunity advanced robotics and autonomy bring to the new space economy here on Earth. In 2021, the Lunar Outpost announced that its privately funded MAPP rover—including transportation allocations for equipment produced by MIT and Nokia—was scheduled to be delivered by an Intuitive Machines lander to the lunar South Pole. Since then, the Lunar Outpost has secured two additional contracted missions to the lunar surface, one fully commercial and the other a NASA-funded scientific exploration rover. In addition to the above missions, Lunar Outpost also won a contract with NASA and the Australian Space Agency to design and develop a lunar rover for Australia's first mission to the Moon under the Trailblazer program.
With a number of active commercial, defense and civil space contracts, the Lunar Outpost provides the next leap that will allow humanity to go interplanetary.
