Astrolab
Astrolab, Inc., officially Venturi Astrolab Inc., is a private American aerospace company based in Hawthorne, California, that designs and develops robotic mobility systems for planetary exploration. Jaret B. Matthews, an aerospace engineer, founded Astrolab in January, 2020.
Astrolab develops commercial planetary surface mobility vehicles specialized in surface logistics for the Moon and Mars, with its flagship rover platform, the Flexible Logistics and Exploration (FLEX) rover, aimed at enabling scalable surface operations and infrastructure development.[1] The company was awarded a contract to develop NASA's Lunar Terrain Vehicle in 2024.[2] Astrolab will send their first rover to the Moon in 2025 on the Astrobotic Griffin 1 mission.[3]
History
[edit]Astrolab was co-founded by Jaret Matthews, a former engineer at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) and SpaceX, who envisioned a reusable, modular mobility system to support human and robotic activity beyond Earth. Co-led by Chief Engineer Rius Billing, the team includes former staff from NASA, SpaceX, Tesla, and other major aerospace firms. In 2021, the company moved into its Hawthorne headquarters, near SpaceX, and began terrestrial field testing of its rover platforms.[4] The company exited stealth in March 2022 and secured a contract in 2023 for the first commercial FLEX rover mission, scheduled to be delivered to the Moon as early as December 2026 aboard a SpaceX Starship.[5] In April 2024, NASA awarded Astrolab a contract under the Lunar Terrain Vehicle Services (LTVS) program to advance lunar mobility for future Artemis missions.[6]
Technology
[edit]FLEX rover
[edit]Astrolab's FLEX rover is a multi-purpose, medium-capacity surface mobility platform designed to support exploration, logistics, construction, and scientific operations. It is equipped with a modular Universal Payload Interface (UPI), allowing it to autonomously deploy, retrieve, and transport cargo of up to 1,500 kg over rugged terrain and is designed for long-term reusability, with a projected service life of up to 10 years and a range of 5,000 km.[7] Astrolab envisions FLEX as the first in a fleet of such rovers, aiming to accelerate the establishment of a sustainable human presence on the Moon and, eventually, Mars.[8]
FLIP rover
[edit]After the cancellation of NASA's VIPER mission on Astrobotic's Griffin lander, Astrolab seized the chance to reach the lunar surface by developing FLIP (FLEX Lunar Innovation Platform).[9] This 2025 mission will not only test FLIP's systems but also gather essential data on lunar dust mitigation and surface operations, informing the design and functionality of future lunar logistics platforms and prove critical FLEX subsystems such as avionics, autonomous navigation, and power systems.[10]
NASA collaboration and Artemis missions
[edit]In 2024, Astrolab was selected alongside Intuitive Machines and Lunar Outpost by NASA to develop lunar mobility systems for astronauts under the LTVS initiative.[11] Astrolab's FLEX rover will serve as a Lunar Terrain Vehicle (LTV) to support Artemis astronauts on surface exploration and infrastructure-building missions, beginning as early as Artemis IV in 2028.[12]
See also
[edit]- Lunar Terrain Vehicle
- Artemis Program
- SpaceX Starship
- Astrobotic Technology
- In situ resource utilization
References
[edit]- ^ "If Starship is real, we're going to need big cargo movers on the Moon and Mars". 25 April 2024.
- ^ "NASA Selects Companies to Advance Moon Mobility for Artemis Missions - NASA".
- ^ "Astrolab to fly its FLIP lunar rover on Astrobotic's Griffin-1 lander". 5 February 2025.
- ^ "NASA unveils three teams to compete for crewed lunar rover demonstration mission – Spaceflight Now". 4 April 2024.
- ^ "Astrolab to send rover to the moon on SpaceX's Starship". 31 March 2023.
- ^ "NASA Prepares for Lunar Terrain Vehicle Testing - NASA". 2 October 2024.
- ^ Foust, Jeff (March 10, 2022). "Astrolab unveils Artemis lunar rover design". SpaceNews.
- ^ Grush, Loren (March 10, 2022). "Aerospace startup reveals new modular lunar rover for carrying people and cargo on the Moon". The Verge.
- ^ Chang, Kenneth (February 5, 2025). "NASA Gave Up a Ride to the Moon. This Startup's Rover Took It". The New York Times.
- ^ "After a wrenching decision by NASA, private lunar lander finds a new customer". 5 February 2025.
- ^ "Astrolab awarded contract by NASA as part of the LTV project. – Astrolab".
- ^ "New Commercial Artemis Moon Rovers Undergo Testing at NASA - NASA". 18 December 2024.