Alongside just two other cutting-edge companies, NASA has selected Venturi Astrolabs to “advance capabilities” for a lunar terrain vehicle, or LTV, that astronauts of the Artemis mission will use to travel around the lunar service while conducting scientific research during the agency’s Artemis campaign at the Moon and preparing for human missions to Mars.
The project could last for 13 years, with an astronomical overall award budget standing in the ball park of 4.2 billion euros being split between Intuitive Machines, Lunar Outpost, and Venturi Astrolab. The latter has been allocated 1.75 billion euros for their part in the project.
California based Venturi Astrolab previously developed the FLEX rover, alongside its Monaco-based strategic partner, the Venturi Group, of which Gildo Pastor is the president.
“We look forward to the development of the Artemis generation lunar exploration vehicle to help us advance what we learn at the Moon,” said Vanessa Wyche, director of NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston. “This vehicle will greatly increase our astronauts’ ability to explore and conduct science on the lunar surface while also serving as a science platform between crewed missions.”
Read more about this stellar project here.
Featured image courtesy of Venturi Astrolab: The FLEX lunar rover during a test in the desert
