NASA has selected 3 teams to develop the Lunar Terrain Vehicle (LTV) - Intuitive Machines, Lunar Outpost and Venturi Astrolab.
The 12-month feasibility task-order will be followed by down-selection to one vendor.
Rover-as-a-Service - vendor is responsible for DevOps and transportation to the moon’s south polar region.
Key req'ments – carry 2 suited astronauts, remote controlled uncrewed operation, robotic arm, operate in extreme temps at the lunar South Pole.
Some info on the companies selected for the NASA LTV contracts -
Intuitive Machines - Moon Reusable Autonomous Crewed Exploration Rover (RACER). Partners - AVL, Boeing, Michelin, Northrop Grumman.
Lunar Outpost - Lunar Dawn LTV . Partners - Lockheed Martin, General Motors, Goodyear, MDA Space.
Venturi Astrolab - Flexible Logistics and Exploration (FLEX). Partners - Axiom Space, Odyssey Space Research.
https://www.intuitivemachines.com/post/intuitive-machines-led-moon-racer-team-awarded-nasa-lunar-terrain-vehicle-contract-to-support-the-ag
https://www.lunaroutpost.com/post/lunar-dawn-team-awarded-nasa-lunar-terrain-vehicle-contract
https://www.venturi.com/en/news/venturi-astrolab-awarded-by-nasa/
2/n
HOUSTON, TX—April 3, 2024 – NASA has awarded Intuitive Machines, Inc. (Nasdaq: LUNR, LUNRW) (“Intuitive Machines”) (“Company”) $30 million as a prime contractor to complete a Lunar Terrain Vehicle Services Feasibility Assessment. The contract tasks the Company’s global team with creating a feasibility roadmap to develop and deploy a Lunar Terrain Vehicle (“LTV”) on the Moon using Intuitive Machines’ Nova-D cargo-class lunar lander. The first phase award marks the Company’s entrance into human sp
AkaSci 🛰️
Michael Gemar