COLORADO SPRINGS—As NASA closes in on releasing a request for proposals for a rover vehicle service on the Moon, Leidos has unveiled a prototype Lunar Terrain Vehicle (LTV) here at the 2023 Space Symposium.
The Leidos vehicle, developed with the company’s Dynetics group and in partnership with U.S. motor racing organization Nascar (National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing), is powered by a combination of solar and battery systems. NASA is widely expected to issue its LTV request for proposals in May, and Leidos likely will submit its vehicle bid in July.
Design features include a top speed of 15 kph (9 mph) and a range “in excess” of 20 km (12.5 mi.). The vehicle has an advanced thermal management system to cope with the extreme temperature ranges that will be experienced during NASA’s Artemis missions targeting the lunar south pole area.
NASA’s Artemis LTV requirements also include the ability to cover hundreds of miles per year and the capability to access diverse locations for science missions, resource prospecting and exploration. The LTV also will need to be capable of remote operation and for other commercial uses when not conducting NASA research and operations.
“We have entered a new Moon race with a partner that’s really good at going fast,” says Steve Cook, president of the Leidos Dynetics Group. “I think ‘LTV’ is going to become as common as ‘SUV’ in the future because we are opening up a new frontier and this is Day One of us announcing what that new frontier is going to look like.”
Leidos already has bid for the Human Landing System Sustaining Lunar Development contract, a key component of NASA’s efforts to establish a sustainable presence on the Moon. In addition, Leidos is working on the Universal Stage Adapter for NASA, an element that is expected to enable the transport of large payloads, including the rover unveiled by the company.
In a design similar to the Apollo-era Lunar Roving Vehicle, the Leidos LTV features four large flexible wire mesh wheels with stiff inner frames to prevent over-deflection. Lights are integrated into the front wheel arches. The lights pivot with the steering to illuminate terrain directly in front of the vehicle as it turns. The large arches are designed to turn with the wheels to prevent excess Moon dust from being kicked up over the vehicle.
Speaking to Aviation Week at the unveiling, Matt Doude, business development lead and space systems program manager for the Dynetics LTV, says: “The vehicle is built around the crew. We started with a model of male and female suited crewmembers and designed around them to maximize effectiveness and time on task while on the surface.”
The company expects to “spend the next 12 months or so getting to the preliminary design review, and we’ll have a vehicle operational when the Artemis 5 crew arrives on the surface, which is notionally 2027-28.”
Doude says studies of various launch and landing system options are underway, adding: “We’re in discussions with a number of lander providers and we’d like to remain lander agnostic. We can deliver the vehicle with a number of options.”
Competition for the next lunar rover is heating up with another contender, Venturi Astrolab, which also is displaying its multi-purpose Flexible Logistics and Exploration (FLEX) rover for the first time at the Space Symposium. The company recently signed an agreement with SpaceX to transport the rover to the Moon on a Starship flight as early as mid-2026. The mission, which will include other customer payloads up to 1,000 kg (2,200 lb.), will be a rideshare payload on a Starship mission destined for the south polar region.
Lockheed Martin also is developing an LTV in partnership with General Motors. That vehicle is being designed to operate with or without humans and to pre-position itself autonomously near a landing site prior to the arrival of the crew. Lockheed says the LTV also will be able to be operated remotely from the Human Landing System or the orbiting lunar Gateway.
Northrop Grumman is also teamed for the LTV contest with AVL, Intuitive Machines, Lunar Outpost and Michelin. Another team includes Teledyne Brown Engineering, Sierra Space and Nissan North America.
