NASA shortlists three companies to build a moon car for Artemis astronauts

The Artemis mission astronauts will get to drive a car on the moon. NASA has handpicked three companies to design a lunar terrain vehicle (LTV), which the astronauts will use to explore the lunar south pole.

The lunar south pole has a heavily mountainous and cratered terrain, extreme environmental conditions with temperatures ranging from 54°C to -203°C, and many shadowed areas that haven’t been exposed to sunlight for billions of years.

The LTV will be designed such that it will be able to tolerate the extreme conditions of the south pole and allow NASA to explore the lunar surface with and without a crew.

“We will use the LTV to travel to locations we might not otherwise be able to reach on foot, increasing our ability to explore and make new scientific discoveries,” Jacob Bleacher, a scientist at NASA, said in a press release.

Three designers but only one moon car

NASA invited proposals for the LTV between May 26 and July 10, 2023. Out of the numerous submissions they received, they selected proposals from three companies: Intuitive Machines, Lunar Outpost, and Venturi Astrolab. If you’ve never heard of these manufacturers before, here’s a brief intro:

Intuitive Machines is the world’s first private aeronautics company to successfully land a spacecraft on the moon. In February 2024, their Odysseus lander touched down on the moon’s surface. Despite a rough sideways landing, the spacecraft managed to collect data and remain operational for a week near the south pole.

Lunar Outpost is a Colorado-based spacecraft and robotics solutions provider that recently received a contract from the US Air Force to develop a Mobile Autonomous Robotic Swarms (MARS) software layer. 

Venturi Astrolab specializes in developing electric, solar, and hybrid vehicles that can withstand terrains where no other vehicles work. 

In the coming 12 months, each of the three companies has to submit their LTV concepts as part of NASA’s feasibility task order. Next, they will build the vehicles, demonstrate their capabilities, and provide details on how their respective vehicles will be deployed on the moon.

“The contract request for proposal required each provider to propose a solution to provide end-to-end services, including LTV development, delivery to the moon, and execution of operations on the lunar surface,” NASA stated.

Out of the three designs, NASA will select only one for the final mission. However, in the next 10 years, the agency will spend a total of $4.6 billion on the different task orders related to the LTV project. 

What a moon car needs to do

According to NASA, the proposed LTV should be able to house two astronauts and also have a self-driving feature. The latter will allow the agency to use the vehicle to explore the moon even when there aren’t any astronauts on the moon.

Apart from having the strength to withstand the extreme conditions of the lunar south pole, the vehicle also must have a highly efficient power system that can support long-duration missions.

Moreover, the LTV should also come equipped with advanced communication and navigation technologies. These are just the basic requirements, and all need to be met.

The selected company will receive a “rover as a service contract” from NASA that will last until 2039. However, that doesn’t mean you will be seeing astronauts driving the moon car right after the launch of Artemis 2, the first crewed Artemis mission due in September 2025.

LTV won’t deployed to the moon before the Artemis 5 mission which is expected to launch in September 2029. The design, testing, and deployment process will take years to complete.

Hopefully, when the vehicle is ready, “it will greatly increase our astronauts’ ability to explore and conduct science on the lunar surface while also serving as a science platform between crewed missions,” said Vanessa Wyche, director of NASA’s Houston-based Johnson Space Center.