Astrolab has announced a partnership with SpaceX to transport its Flexible Logistics and Exploration (FLEX) rover on an upcoming mission to the moon, using SpaceX’s Starship launch and landing system, as soon as mid-2026.
After the completion of this mission, FLEX will be the largest and most capable rover to have traveled to the moon. The FLEX rover is a logistics system for missions to the moon and Mars, designed to transport and deploy payloads in a modular system. The company expects to release details of several customer agreements to carry payloads on this mission later this spring.
“Our Astrolab team has created much more than a rover for use on the Moon or Mars,” said Jaret Matthews, Founder and CEO of Astrolab, in a press release on Friday. “We’ve created a logistics system that can accommodate a wide variety of cargo. We expect that this approach will help establish a permanent lunar outpost on the Moon at a lower cost and in less time than previously envisioned.”
“Starship is designed to transport large amounts of cargo, including rovers, to the Moon and Mars for research and exploration,” said Tom Ochinero, Senior Vice President, Commercial Business, SpaceX, in a statement. “Developing sustainable outposts will require lunar logistics and transportation on the surface of the Moon, like what Astrolab offers. We look forward to working with the Astrolab team to deliver their FLEX Rover to the surface of the Moon.”
Astrolab has been testing a full-scale, fully functional terrestrial prototype of the FLEX rover in the California desert. Testing included crewed and telerobotic operations, deployment of a variety of large payloads, science operations with its robotic arm, and engineering testing of the rover’s mobility performance in challenging terrain. Testing has continued in lunar analog sites around California throughout 2022 and into this year.
SpaceX is said to launch the first orbital flight for Starship sometime next month.
