Artist’s rendering of astronauts working next to a
lunar terrain vehicle on the lunar surface.
NASA
As NASA works to build the Moon Base, crewed and robotic lunar rovers will
play a crucial role during early development through technology demonstrations,
astronaut transport, terrain mapping, scientific investigations, and resource
prospecting. Data from these early missions will inform future mobility systems
and infrastructure needed for astronauts to live and work on the Moon.
On Tuesday, NASA released a Moon Base video update offering a closer look at the progress being made on the commercial lunar terrain vehicles and robotic rovers that will enable the surface mobility needed to build humanity’s first lunar outpost.
“Lunar rovers are central to our
surface mobility strategy,” said Robert Pickle, director of the Surface
Mobility Office within the agency’s Moon Base Program. “Their performance will
lay the groundwork for the mobility systems that will define the next era of
exploration and ultimately determine how effectively we can build, operate, and
expand the infrastructure required for long‑duration exploration.”
Learn more about NASA’s VIPER
An artist’s concept of NASA’s VIPER lunar rover on the
surface of the Moon.
NASA/Daniel Rutter
NASA’s VIPER (Volatiles Investigating Polar Exploration
Rover) will embark on a mission to the lunar South Pole region in 2027 to
venture into permanently shadowed craters looking for water and other valuable
resources essential for sustainable exploration.
After delivery to the lunar surface
by a Blue Moon Mark 1 lander, VIPER will travel more than 18 miles
(30 kilometers), collecting information about the thermal, lighting, and
terrain environment in the Moon’s South Pole region. This data could provide
information about the origin and distribution of water on the Moon, help
determine how lunar resources could be used for the Moon Base, as well as
better understand the history of the Moon, Earth, and the processes that helped
shape conditions for life.
Mission operations for VIPER will
be run out of NASA’s Ames Research Center in Silicon Valley where teams are
simulating possible scenarios for when the rover begins its mission on the
Moon.
The VIPER rover is currently at
NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston where it is fully built and undergoing
final testing before traveling to NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida for
launch to the Moon.
Lunar terrain vehicles
To advance surface mobility on the
Moon, NASA awarded Astrolab and Lunar Outpost task orders to build
the first phase of Moon Base rovers capable of carrying crew, called lunar
terrain vehicles (LTVs), that will be delivered to the Moon ahead of crewed
Artemis missions. NASA awarded Blue Origin a task order to deliver the LTVs to
the lunar South Pole region by 2028 through the agency’s CLPS (Commercial Lunar Payload Services) initiative.
The LTVs will be remotely operated
from Earth, traversing up to 3.7 miles (6 kilometers) a day, mapping the lunar
surface to help scientists produce high-resolution maps of the region, prior to
crew arriving on future missions. The rovers also will collect information to
help NASA and its partners learn about operating in this extreme environment,
such as data on lighting, navigation, and how well the LTVs preserve energy and
function when driving in and out of permanently shadowed regions that can reach
minus 334°F (minus 203°C). This will help inform Moon Base development and
improve on design and capability for future mobility systems, hardware, and
infrastructure.
During missions on the lunar
surface, Artemis astronauts will drive the LTVs as they explore geologically
diverse areas of the lunar South Pole region, gathering geology samples to
bring back to Earth for scientists to study. The LTVs will be able to support
up to three moonwalks per Artemis mission, transport up to 176 pounds (80
kilograms) of lunar samples and tools, and travel up to six miles (10
kilometers) on a single battery charge.
Astrolab
An artist’s concept of Astrolab’s Crewed Lunar
Vehicle, or CLV-1, on the surface of the Moon.
Astrolab
Astrolab’s Crewed Lunar Vehicle 1, or CLV-1, is a rover adapted from the
company’s FLEX (Flexible Logistics and Exploration Vehicle) LTV architecture.
Astrolab recently delivered a mockup of CLV-1 to Axiom Space, where NASA
astronauts wore mock-ups of the Artemis lunar spacesuit and evaluated the lunar
rover’s design, crew cabin, and display interfaces.
Prior to CLV-1 arriving to the
Moon, Astrolab will send its first robotic rover, FLIP (FLEX Lunar Innovation
Platform), to the lunar surface as a payload on Voyager Technologies’ Griffin
Mission One scheduled to launch in late 2026. FLIP will study the environment
of the South Pole and serve as a testbed for critical subsystems on CLV-1,
which will include similar tires, batteries, radios, and cameras.
In the next few weeks, Astrolab
engineers will head to NASA’s Glenn Research Center in Cleveland where they
will use the center’s Simulated Lunar Operations laboratory to evaluate the how
CLV-1’s flexible, airless wheels perform while driving on a simulated lunar
surface.
Lunar Outpost
A full-scale prototype of Lunar Outpost’s Pegasus
lunar terrain vehicle.
Lunar Outpost
Lunar Outpost’s Pegasus crewed LTV is a lighter, mission-ready evolution of
the company’s Eagle LTV. Prior to the award, Lunar Outpost built two mockups of
Pegasus and recently delivered a third static mockup to NASA’s Johnson Space
Center for crewed testing. During the test, NASA astronauts wore pressurized
spacesuits and evaluated the rover’s design, usability, and crew comfort.
In 2025, Lunar Outpost’s robotic
exploration rover MAPP (Mobile Autonomous Prospecting Platform) operated at the
Moon’s South Pole. During the mission, MAPP acted as a testbed and collected
data, achieving flight-proven readiness for key hardware and software
subsystems, like its automatic thermal control system, navigation cameras, and
mission control software that will be used to remotely operate Pegasus. With a
second MAPP rover scheduled to launch in early 2027, Lunar Outpost is advancing
many of the key technologies that are directly transferable to Pegasus.
In the next few weeks, Lunar
Outpost teams also will head to NASA Glenn to test and evaluate the soil
mechanics, traction, and mobility of Pegasus’ spring mesh tires.
In the coming months, both Astrolab
and Lunar Outpost will test drivable LTV mockups with NASA crew to evaluate how
the rovers drive and operate in a simulated lunar environment. Lunar Outpost is
scheduled to complete the preliminary design review of their LTV in October,
and Astrolab is scheduled to complete their preliminary design review by the
end of December. Both companies are on schedule to deliver the flight-ready
hardware to NASA at the end of 2027.
As part of a Golden Age of
innovation and exploration, NASA will send Artemis astronauts on increasingly
difficult missions near the lunar South Pole to explore more of the Moon than
ever before. In addition to providing economic benefits and advancing scientific
discovery through its Moon missions, NASA will establish an enduring human
presence on the lunar surface and build on the agency’s foundation for the
first crewed mission to Mars.
To learn more about the Moon Base, visit: https://www.nasa.gov/moonbase
Victoria Ugalde
Source: NASA Provides Progress Update on Moon Base Rovers - NASA
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