Goodyear to Supply Tires for NASA’s Artemis Lunar Terrain Vehicle
Akron Tire Maker Joins Lunar Outpost, GM and Leidos to Outfit Pegasus for 2028 Moon Missions
Goodyear will supply lunar tires for Lunar Outpost’s Pegasus Lunar Terrain Vehicle, set to carry astronauts across the Moon’s surface beginning in 2028 as part of NASA’s Artemis program.
“Goodyear tires first left tread marks on the Moon during the Apollo mission.”
Chris Helsel, Goodyear
Pegasus is designed for operations at the lunar South Pole, where it will allow astronauts to travel farther and conduct extended scientific exploration. Lunar Outpost led the vehicle’s development in partnership with General Motors, Goodyear and Leidos.
Goodyear’s tires are engineered to withstand extreme temperature swings, rocky terrain and low-gravity conditions at the lunar South Pole — an environment that presents challenges unlike any on Earth.
This is not Goodyear’s first time on the Moon. The Akron, Ohio-based tire maker supplied tires for the Apollo program’s Lunar Roving Vehicle more than five decades ago.
“From breaking land speed records to traversing the Moon’s surface to pushing the limits of the world’s toughest race circuits Goodyear innovations have been helping people travel safely on their own journeys for more than 125 years,” said Chris Helsel, senior vice president and Chief Technical Officer at Goodyear. “Goodyear tires first left tread marks on the Moon during the Apollo mission, and since then Goodyear technology and the people behind it have kept making tires worth bragging about.”
The Pegasus vehicle is intended to extend astronaut range and mission duration on the lunar surface. Missions to the South Pole carry scientific interest because the region is believed to contain water ice in permanently shadowed craters — a resource with potential implications for long-duration human presence on the Moon.
Goodyear operates two innovation centers — one in Akron, Ohio, and one in Colmar-Berg, Luxembourg — that the company says support product development for extreme environments. The company employs about 63,000 people and operates 49 manufacturing facilities across 19 countries.
The Pegasus LTV is expected to support its first crewed Artemis missions planned to launch in 2028.