NASA Contracts Two Companies to Develop Next-Gen Lunar Rovers for Artemis Missions]
NASA awarded contracts to Lunar Outpost and Venturi Astrolab to develop advanced lunar rovers for future astronaut missions, marking a significant step toward establishing a sustained human presence on the Moon.
The Colorado-based Lunar Outpost and California-based Venturi Astrolab will each receive approximately $220 million to build lunar terrain vehicles (LTVs) capable of carrying two astronauts and navigating steep 20-degree slopes. These modern rovers will be significantly more capable than the Apollo-era vehicles that first traversed the lunar surface in the 1970s.
NASA’s lunar program director Carlos García-Galán emphasized the agency’s goal of having operational rovers ready by the Artemis IV mission, currently scheduled for 2028. “It’s absolutely an objective,” he stated during a recent briefing on NASA’s moon base development plans.
The new LTVs represent a scaled-back approach compared to NASA’s original 2019 requirements. Under former administrator Jared Isaacman, the agency reduced specifications to accelerate delivery—cutting the required top speed from 9.3 to 6.2 mph and eliminating the robotic arm requirement. The new one-year contract structure also differs from the previous 10-year rental model.
This streamlined approach allows NASA to deploy functional rovers sooner, with Isaacman noting that astronaut feedback from early missions will inform future vehicle improvements. Both companies now face the challenge of constructing their rovers within 18 months, a timeline that matches the rapid development of Apollo lunar modules nearly 50 years ago.
In additional lunar infrastructure news, Blue Origin secured a $468 million contract for rover transportation services, while Firefly Aerospace received $75 million to deploy four robotic drones from NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory. These drones will conduct reconnaissance in the Moon’s south pole region, creating detailed terrain maps to support future landing site selections and base construction planning.
“It will help us build a digital terrain map of different landing sites on the moon and prospect moon base sites,” García-Galán explained. These systems collectively represent critical components for establishing a permanent lunar presence.
