Category Archives: Lunar Rovers

Friday / 5 December 2025

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Some Push for Backup as Lunar Rover Selection Nears

One of 3 LTVs to be selected this month; allocating a second bidder funding through critical design review would provide insurance; 2 awards for spacesuits now has Axiom after Collins drop-out, 2 awards for commercial crew launches saw SpaceX leap ahead of Boeing; Initial awards of ~US$30M each in April 2024 allowed Intuitive Machines (IM), Lunar Outpost (LO), Astrolab to develop prototypes; for $4.6B full contract, selected vehicle must arrive on Moon by 2029 for Artemis services to 2039; IM and LO plan for Falcon 9 rocket and Nova-C lander, Astrolab plans Starship for launch/landing; Senate Commerce Committee votes on Isaacman nomination 8 December; full-Senate vote would follow, end-of-year adjournment scheduled 19 December

Image Credits: NASA, (l-r) Lunar Outpost, Astrolab, Intuitive Machines

Holiday Edition
Wed-Mon / 26 Nov – 1 Dec 2025

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ISRO and JAXA Collaborate for Lunar Synergy

JAXA delegation meets ISRO senior leadership, reviews progress on upcoming ~US$253M Lunar Polar Exploration Mission (LuPEX), tours UR Rao Satellite Centre, discusses potential collaboration to create robotic arm / launch science satellites / support researchers and private companies from both nations working jointly; ISRO LuPEX Moon lander – Chandrayaan-5 – carries ~250kg JAXA rover / instruments from NASA / ESA / JAXA / ISRO, will investigate quantity / quality of South Pole-region water ice, flies 2028-2029 on JAXA H3 rocket; ~US$250M Chandrayaan-4 lunar sample return launching 2027-2028

Image Credits: ISRO, JAXA

Tuesday / 18 November 2025

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Star Catcher, Intuitive Machines Surpass DARPA Record in Beaming Power to Lunar Rover

Star Catcher Industries, Jacksonville FL (via ~US$12M seed funding and Power Purchase Agreements) and Intuitive Machines, Houston TX (IM) eclipse a record at NASA Kennedy, simulate lunar orbit sunlight intensity / spectrum, convert to multi-wavelength laser energy, beam >1.1 kW over >1 km, energize standard solar panels on IM Moon RACER rover, transfer ~2.78 kWh to recharge LTV batteries; DARPA May 2025 test transferred only 800 Watts; alternative to nuclear or fuel-cell power source for surviving lunar night, does not increase mission mass / costs / complexity; on-orbit demo planned for 2026, “full-scale multi-orbit deployment” in 2030 for sustained South Pole mission

Image Credits: Star Catcher Industries, Intuitive Machines

Friday / 7 November 2025

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3 Lunar Rovers: Alike Yet Different

NASA-specified Lunar Terrain Vehicle selection NET end-of-2025 for awards from total US$4.6B available; requirements include: minimum ~1250km yearly / ~19km daily operation while hauling ~800kg, robotic construction arm with interchangeable tools, remote / autonomous / driver operation, LIDAR / camera “vision”, NASA-developed electrodynamic dust shielding, micrometeorite shielding, several years’ life through temperatures +121° to -246°C; Lunar Outpost Eagle has joystick steering for seated Astronauts, 25kph top speed, Goodyear metal-mesh tires; Astrolab FLEX has joystick for standing operators driving front- or rear-forward, Venturi wheels of heated silicone / glass / steel, horseshoe chassis, system redundancy; Intuitive Machines Moon Racer has seated-joystick operation with handrail / winch entry, Michelin tires tested to -195°C, trailer-hauling system

Image Credits: NASA – Dave Scott on Apollo 15, (CW) Lunar Outpost, Intuitive Machines, Astrolab

Friday / 24 October 2025

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ispace Innovation / Cooperation Offers Success Model for Lunar Advancement

ispace, inc. (Japan), developing Moon landers / rovers in HAKUTO-R program, planned to collect lunar regolith for US$5,000 and transfer ownership to NASA — evoking lunar property rights questions; subsidiary ispace-Europe signs 6 Oct US$22M Payload Services Agreement (PSA) with Magna Petra Corp. to deliver (via subsidiary ispace-USA APEX 1.0 lander / micro-rover) NASA MSOLO mass spectrometer for lunar Helium-3 prospecting under Magna Petra-NASA 5 May Cooperative Research and Development Agreement (CRADA); ispace signs 5 Sep MoU with Digantara (India) for cislunar awareness and 23 Oct with OrbitAID (India) for refueling, indirectly supporting ISRO-JAXA LUPEX / Chandrayaan-5 mission (JAXA rocket / rover, ISRO lander) launching NET 2028

Image Credits: ispace

Tuesday / 7 October 2025

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Australian Roo-ver to Moon 2030, Other Lunar Accomplishments

Australia Moon goals feature 20kg Roo-ver rover, named for kangaroo via public vote, launching by 2030 to Moon southern latitudes for Artemis program via CLPS, being built by ELO2 consortium co-led by EPE Oceania and Lunar Outpost Oceania and including ~20 orgs; Australia 1 of 6 original signers of Artemis Accords, ~10,000 work in space sector; 1st Australian to space Paul Scully-Power as civilian on Challenger; Parkes Observatory in New South Wales has 64m radio telescope dish Murriyang that relayed 2.5 hrs of Neil Armstrong 1st Moonwalk amid 110km/h winds, outside its safety limits

Image Credits: ELO2, Parkes

Friday / 3 October 2025

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Europe Moves Forward with International Collaboration on Moon Missions for Exploration, Monitoring, Mining

Airbus (Netherlands / France, with German / USA / China / Canada offices) supplies European Service Module for Artemis II Orion spacecraft, providing life-support, avionics, solar power, propulsion; ESA Argonaut lunar lander planned to launch NET 2031; Blue Origin (USA / Luxembourg) teams with Luxembourg government / ESRIC / GOMSpace to create Oasis-1 orbiter to map water ice / H3 / rare minierals, before sending Blue Alchemist mining rig; Space Applications Services (Belgium) designing 300kg rover; ispace Europe awaits ESA approval for MAGPIE 30kg rover to analyze subsurface geology, hydrogen forms, et al

Image Credits: Airbus, Blue Origin, NASA

Tuesday / 30 September 2025

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NASA Awards Blue Origin US$190M VIPER Delivery Contract

Blue Origin will now deliver NASA lunar rover to the Moon South Pole using Blue Moon Mark 1 lander; targeting late 2027, the 100-day mission will seek water ice and volatiles, supporting Artemis; Blue Origin $3B Space Coast facility, including the 18,600 m² Lunar Plant 1, will build the lander, employing 1,500 workers; the New Glenn heavy-lift rocket will enable lunar deliveries, while Blue Origin advances its Human Landing System for Artemis V

Image Credits: Blue Origin

Friday / 19 September 2025

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Paving Moon Surface Necessary for Counteracting Regolith Dust

Michigan Technical University (PI, associate professor Paul van Susante) and SpaceFactory.ai (PI, founder David Malott) working together to create Moon-paving machines to polymerize regolith top layer, preventing future issues of dust-encrusted spacesuits on Moon-walking Astronauts; paving substance must endure 300°C temperature swings, -173 to +127; NASA Small Business Technology Transfer awarded US$150,000 in 2023, and US$850,000 this year funds R&D into 2027; current work is automating excavation / grading and preparing viscoelastic, asphalt-like material; road-bed samples are cryocooled and heated to lunar temps, rover wheel traverses sample paving 900x

Image Credits: NASA / SPC / ILOA, NASA / Gene Cernan of Harrison Schmitt, MTU, SpaceFactory.ai

Tuesday / 16 September 2025

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Space Calendar Offers to Land Your Message on the Moon

15 September announcement from Space Age Publishing Company communicates it will carry customer names and 100-character messages to Moon surface via Astrolab FLIP mission, landing near south pole in Nobile region NET late 2025, and via International Lunar Observatory Association (ILOA) ILO-1 mission in 2027; US$50 is the nominal fee for a limited time, see SpaceCalendar.com/MoonMessage; ILO-1 mission is to initiate 2-way lunar communications, adding real-time images from its lunar surface telescope to the weekly Space Calendar, published since 1976 and landed on Moon via a CLPS lander on 22 Feb 2024; Canadensys to build ILO-1 instrument

Image Credits: Space Age Publishing Company, International Lunar Observatory Association