In line with NASA’s (Washington, D.C., U.S.) selection of Intuitive Machines, Lunar Outpost and Venturi Astrolab to advance lunar terrain vehicle (LTV) development in April 2024, Intuitive Machines (IM, Houston, Texas, U.S.) unveiled its first prototype at a public debut Nov. 7^th at Space Centre Houston. Named the Moon RACER (“Reusable Autonomous Crewed Exploration Rover”), or the “moon buggy,” the pickup truck-sized mock-up highlights how an LTV will be used to travel around the lunar surface for NASA’s Artemis campaign. 

Moon RACER is an 8.5-foot-tall, 12-foot-wide autonomous vehicle that is capable of towing a 108-foot-long trailer (33-meter), a key feature that will enable those on the moon to generally transport and operate equipment. According to the Houston Chronicle, “the vehicle can carry two astronauts wearing spacesuits and an additional 400 kilograms of cargo. The trailer can also be connected to the RACER to haul another 800 kilograms.” Alone, the LTV can reach speeds up to 9.3 miles per hour, is capable of climbing or descending 20-degree slopes and driving over obstacles up to 30 centimeters. It will also be equipped with a robot arm for autonomous and manual commanding.

IM has been working with AVL, Boeing, Michelin and Northrop Grumman in competition with teams led by Lunar Outpost and Astrolab. While materials have not been confirmed, it could be assumed that composite materials may play a role in the LTV’s design. For example, during an initial call for LTV solutions in 2021, General Motors and Lockheed Martin foresaw the importance of moving away from the previously aluminum rovers of the past to the use of titanium, carbon fiber weave and forged carbon fiber materials to achieve new durability and capability standards. Previous rover designs unrelated to the Artemis program — like the Iris nano-rover developed by Carnegie Mellon University — were also developed using composites.

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Should NASA choose IM’s design over Lunar Outpost and Venturi Astrolab, the company will maintain ownership of its lunar rovers. The chosen program will deliver its rover to the lunar south pole and validate its performance and safety ahead of the Artemis V mission no earlier than the first quarter of 2030.

IM’s Trent Martin, senior vice president for space systems, told Aviation Week that “IM is tasked with not only building an LTV, but delivering it to the surface of the moon. So we built a lander that we call the Nova-D. We put the LTV on that lander. We launch it to the moon, and then we operate it on the surface of the moon for 10 years. We operate it when astronauts are driving it. But when they are not there, we will continue to operate the vehicle from here in Houston, from Australia, from the platforms that are on the moon.”

In February 2024, IM achieved a soft landing at the Moon with NASA and commercial payloads using its Nova-C lander as one of 14 NASA Commercial Lunar Payload Services (CLPS) mission providers. The Nova-D lander is planned for 2025.