Colorado School of Mines gets Lunar Outpost Rover Chassis
Colorado School of Mines gets Lunar Outpost Rover Chassis
Hardware Delivered Through the LuSTR Program
Through the NASA Lunar Surface Technology Research (LuSTR) program, Lunar Outpost has successfully designed and delivered a state-of-the-art lunar infrastructure rover chassis to their partner on the program, Colorado School of Mines, marking an important step in space technology innovation towards demonstrating the first infrastructure robotics system on another planetary body.
“This milestone achievement ... demonstrates Lunar Outpost’s capabilities in paving the way for expanded human development of the Moon.”
AJ Gemer, Lunar Outpost
The LuSTR program, initiated by NASA, aims to accelerate the development of crucial technologies for a sustained human presence in space. This groundbreaking rover is poised to revolutionize lunar infrastructure development. Capable of autonomously grading, compacting and leveling the Moon’s surface, this innovative rover is set to undertake an important first mission – the construction of a landing pad in lunar regolith simulant on Earth. Once validated through Earth testing, swarms of these infrastructure rovers will be ready to construct roadways, landing pads, and habitats on the lunar surface, supporting NASA’s crewed Lunar Terrain Vehicle (LTV) operations, Human Landing System (HLS) rockets, and critical Artemis Base Camp infrastructure.
The successful deployment of the first lunar infrastructure rover represents a historic leap forward in lunar exploration capabilities. Infrastructure construction on the Moon is key for enabling the safe landing and take-off of landers and rockets, which is fundamental to the success of some of NASA’s Artemis missions and the broader objectives of lunar exploration.
Lunar Outpost’s cutting-edge rover, equipped with Colorado School of Mines’ advanced grading and Michigan Tech’s compacting technology, is poised to play a pivotal role in the development of these critical lunar infrastructure components.
“This milestone achievement, building on our successful deliveries of flight-ready science and exploration rovers, demonstrates Lunar Outpost’s capabilities in paving the way for expanded human development of the Moon,” says AJ Gemer, Lunar Outpost CTO and Co-Founder. “Combined with our research into cutting-edge lunar civil engineering tools, and supported by our partners at CSM and MTU, Lunar Outpost is actively supporting NASA’s vision of sustained human settlement and exploration of the Moon this decade, enabled by a thriving commercial lunar economy.”
Fully autonomous demonstrations of the rover’s capabilities are set to commence in early 2024, promising an exciting and transformative journey into the realm of lunar surface development.