Lunar Voyage 1 Update

7 March 2025

Lunar Outpost’s Lunar Voyage 1 MAPP rover successfully made it to the Moon, collected data from the lunar surface and in transit, and proved that MAPP was ready to drive.  

MAPP transited to the Moon aboard the Intuitive Machines’ IM-2 Nova-C lander, which came to rest on its side in a crater on the Moon around 10:30am MT on March 6. The Nova-C lander ended up on its side with MAPP’s garage wedged upside down under the lander, preventing MAPP’s deployment to the lunar surface. Our data paints a clear picture that MAPP survived the landing, would have driven on the lunar surface and achieved our mission objectives had it been given the opportunity.

During Lunar Voyage 1, our MAPP rover and Lunar Outpost team accomplished over 30 key milestones including the following: 

• Lunar Outpost MAPP rover was the first US teleoperated rover operated on the lunar surface and in cislunar space, achieving Lunar Technology Readiness Level (TRL 9) for key rover subsystems.   

  
  

• Lunar Outpost’s Stargate Mission Control Software achieved flawless operation, reaching TRL 9. Stargate maintained an uptime of 99.998%, surpassing the requirements for human-rated, Class-A Programs such as NASA’s Lunar Terrain Vehicle Program. This included flawless operation of cloud infrastructure, Lunar Outpost ZEBCHAT™ segmented and unsegmented telemetry, file loads, task manager, and vehicle commanding.  

  
  

• Lunar Outpost successfully managed the rover and received 57574 data points, downlinked multiple images, and sent 268 commands with a total lander network provided downlink of only 6 Mb for transit and surface ops combined.   

  
  

• Successful Spacecraft Mission Operations from Lunar Outpost’s Mission Control. Spacecraft operation milestones include:   

  • Lunar Orbit Operations of 77.1 hours  

  • Lunar Transit Operations of 132.2 hours  

  • Lunar Surface Shadowed Region Operations of 2.7 hours   

  
  

• Successful TRL9 demonstration of Lunar Outpost’s proprietary Fault Tolerant Flight Computer (FTFC) in the harsh environment of space, including a pass through the Van Allen Radiation belts and on a shadowed portion of the lunar surface. This computer successfully performed all vehicle management activities. The FTFC is a Lunar Outpost developed, high reliability computer that includes reliable FPGA, processor, memory, and motor controllers.   

  
  

• Successful TRL 9 demonstration of the rover’s high-performance navigation and payload computer and memory, including commanding and coordination with the Lunar Outpost’s Fault Tolerant Flight Computer.   

  
  

• Key autonomy systems and software achieved TRL 9, kept the rover healthy and prepared the rover for landing and drive off. Including software that manages:  

  • Vehicle states 

  • Data relay 

  • Communications 

  • Payload applications 

  • Robotic functions  

  
  

• Successful TRL 9 demonstration of our Autonomous Thermal Control System (ATCS), which maintained rover and payload temperatures within designed ranges during in-space transit and on the lunar surface.   

  
  

• Successful TRL 9 demonstration of MAPP Rover’s Stereo Navigation Cameras, which captured an image during transit, and compressed it using Lunar Outpost algorithms to transmit over an extremely narrow data allocation from the lander.   

  
  

• Successful launch, transit and landing demonstration of Lunar Outpost’s Patent-Pending Talon™ Rover Hold Down and Deployment System. This system successfully restrained the rover during launch and upon impact on the lunar surface.   

  
  

• First successful commercialization of a lunar rover system through successful integration, transit operations, and delivery of numerous partners and payloads including:    

  • Nokia’s 4G/LTE Network 

  • MIT Time-of-Flight Depth Camera  

  • MIT AstroAnt miniature rover 

  • Regolith Collection Mechanism for NASA Space Resources Contract 

  • MIT HUMANS Message Wafer 

  • LunarCrush Nakamoto_1 Bitcoin Interplanetary Treasure Chest. 

  • Neutron Spectrometer for water signature prospecting  

  • Message to the Moon digital payload containing 312 messages for the Moon   

  
  

• Mission collaborators including LEGO, Juventus, adidas, and Castrol.   

  
  

• Successful development integration of highly complex deployment mechanisms utilized for Nokia’s 4G/LTE antennas, a garage developed specifically for MIT’s AstroAnt, and a lens cover to mitigate lunar surface dust.  

  
  

• Integrated a novel Thermal Switch Technology developed by Lunar Outpost EU and Sponsored by European Space Agency (ESA) and Luxembourg Space Agency (LSA).   

  
  

• Dozens of other systems and components were validated as a part of Lunar Voyage 1 providing key technical heritage and experience. 

  
  

• Demonstration of solid mission assurance processes and practices for a flight mission. This includes quality assurance, safety, materials, fracture control, workmanship, and software development processes.  

  
  

We look forward to our upcoming missions – including exploring Reiner Gamma (Lunar Voyage 2), heading back to the South Pole of the Moon (Lunar Voyage 3), and delivering the first Australian rover mission to the Moon (named Roo-ver, our fourth lunar voyage). In addition to our four upcoming missions, Lunar Outpost’s Lunar Terrain Vehicle, Eagle, developed for NASA LTVS contract, has been engineered to be the most capable and reliable mobility solution ever created enabling future crewed and uncrewed missions on the Moon. With our capabilities clearly demonstrated in space, we look forward to further showcasing what our mobility systems can achieve and utilizing our space heritage to develop the most advanced lunar terrain vehicles possible.