Musk wanted a huge "SUV" to explore the Moon. His wishes have been fulfilled

SpaceX already has a huge rover to explore the lunar surface. Astrolab, a startup company in the aerospace field, has announced its agreement with Elon Musk’s company. It will provide them with a bulky vehicle capable of transporting both cargo and astronauts.

This rover is larger than NASA’s Perseverance, equipped with a robotic arm, a maximum speed of about 24 kilometers per hour and the ability to move two people inside.

The rover that will conquer the lunar surface

FLEX, the rover developed by Astrolab, is expected to be The largest rover to ever walk on the Moon. Venturi Astrolab has signed an agreement with SpaceX to be the company that provides the transport vehicle (rover) in its next mission to the Moon.

It is destined to participate in the SpaceX mission by mid-2026, in which they will seek to set foot on lunar soil. The goal is to explore it and try to establish “a sustainable presence” in it. For this, the exploration vehicles and their capabilities are especially important.

FLEX has a combined rover and payload mass of more than two tons, something that allows carry two astronauts, along with the additional rest of the load. It has been specially designed to transport and deploy loads in a modular system.

“We have created a logistics system that can accommodate a wide variety of payloads. We hope this approach will help establish a permanent lunar outpost on the Moon at a lower cost and in less time than previously anticipated. We are delighted that this contract with SpaceX allow Astrolab to demonstrate the advantages of the FLEX rover and its modular payload system.”

The rover has all the requirements imposed by NASA for the Artemis program, and both manned and automated tests are already underway. If all goes as expected, this rover will also be used in future missions to Marsso it lays the foundation for what these types of vehicles will look like in the next generation.

Image | astrolab

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