The Moon is a new world of opportunity. Astrolab will help you access it.
The surface area of the Moon is 38 million square kilometers. A new land to explore and derive resources from.
Soon, FLEX Rover will enable hundreds of tons of modular payloads to be deployed each month in support of human operations on the Moon.
FLEX Rover is key to activities such as building infrastructure, conducting science experiments and extracting resources to evolve future human outposts.
Astrolab has created
the multi-functional
with this burgeoning
economy in mind.
Astrolab has created the multi-functional FLEX Rover with this burgeoning economy in mind. FLEX Rover’s unique commercial potential comes from its novel mobility system, which gives it the ability to pick up and deposit modular payloads enabling a sustained presence on the Moon and beyond.
Introducing...
Setting the extraterrestrial cargo standard
We’ve open-sourced our payload design for the world to use.
FLEX Universal Payload is a format for cargo transportation and delivery optimized to meet the challenges of interplanetary travel and deployment on other worlds using the FLEX Rover system.
Every FLEX Rover can transport a 1600 kg payload, with volumes in excess of 3m³ fully configurable for both science and brand payloads.
“Our modular payload capability gives FLEX Rover tremendous versatility, which is necessary to accomplish things both when astronauts are there, but also when they’re not there.”
The Moon is the next frontier for science and brands.
Science Payloads
FLEX Rover can accommodate payloads with volumes in excess of 3m³ and as much as 1600 kg in mass. Multiple rovers can also collaborate to move even larger payloads – for example for lander relocation or outpost construction. FLEX Rover can support human operations, teleoperated or semi-autonomous science, exploration, logistics, site survey and construction, and other activities critical to a sustained presence on the Moon and beyond.
Brand Payloads
Because humanity will always push the boundaries, the sky is no longer the limit.
The Moon is a new world that demands incredible product innovation and expression that create extraordinary stories to fuel your brand now and for generations to come.
At Astrolab we believe that the brands that are natives of these new worlds will secure not only fame but their futures as the Lunar economy becomes a reality.
We’re proud to already be partnered with these brands to help them achieve their Lunar goals:
NASA
NASA has awarded Astrolab, together with its teammates Axiom Space, Inc., and Odyssey Space Research, a contract to advance the development of the Lunar Terrain Vehicle System (LTVS) which will help Artemis astronauts explore more of the Moon’s surface on future missions. The Astrolab team is one of three teams to win contract awards. Astrolab’s contract is worth up to $1.9 billion. Collectively the three contract winners may be awarded task orders over the next 13 years with a total potential value of $4.6 billion. The contracts allow for two additional years for the completion of services.
Hewlett Packard Enterprise
Hewlett Packard Enterprise is the global edge-to-cloud company that helps organizations accelerate outcomes by unlocking value from all of their data, everywhere. Built on decades of reimagining the future and innovating to advance the way people live and work, HPE delivers unique, open and intelligent technology solutions as a service. On the moon, HPE will be further developing its edge computing capability, so that refined rather than raw data can be sent back to Earth as efficiently as possible.
Argo Space Corp
Argo Space Corp. is building infrastructure for the future of space in order to expand extraterrestrial possibilities for businesses and support permanent human presence beyond Earth. Argo intends to use FLEX to deploy a demonstration payload that will advance the development of its unique, scalable technology designed to harvest low-concentration water from Lunar regolith. This mission is a major step in the company’s efforts to use water from regolith for commercial applications to make in-space transportation abundant and build a Lunar economy.
Astroport
Astroport Space Technologies is developing patent-pending regolith solidification technologies for Lunar infrastructure construction using 3D printing and autonomous robotics, with an initial focus on Lunar landing pad emplacements. FLEX’s robotic arm will collect regolith for a sieving and grain separation experiment. FLEX will also use its robotic arm to install Astroport’s Lunar simulant bricks to begin the construction of an initial Lunar road.
Avalon Space
Avalon Space will use FLEX to conduct a series of science, exploration and sustainable development experiments focused on the emerging Lunar economy, leveraging a suite of both onboard and deployed elements on the Lunar surface. “I don’t think anyone doubts that there will likely be a pre-Starship and post-Starship point in human history,” said Dr. Nadeem Ghafoor, CEO of Avalon Space. “We’re thrilled to be working with Astrolab and our international and commercial partners on this first mission to help unlock the potential of this new era of beyond-Earth orbit development. The next decade is going to change everything, and we’re looking forward to doing our part to help it be as peaceful, collaborative, impactful and economically significant as possible.”
Interstellar Lab
Interstellar Lab develops and commercializes biofarming platforms combining AI, advanced hardware and bioscience to supply plant-based ingredients at scale on Earth and in Space. Interstellar plans to use FLEX to deploy two small plant pods on the Lunar surface, and measure the impact of the Lunar environment on the plant’s phenotype and molecular composition. “We are very excited to team up with Astrolab for our mission LITTLE PRINCE,” said Barbara Belvisi, founder and CEO, Interstellar Lab. “As Antoine Saint Exupéry wrote: “If you love a flower that lives on a star, it is sweet to look at the sky at night. All the stars are a-bloom with flowers.”
LifeShip
LifeShip, Inc. is saving the essence of Earth across space and time, with products for people to include themselves in the story. FLEX will deliver a capsule containing a DNA seed bank and data archive to the Lunar surface. “This is an exciting mission! With LifeShip, anyone can be part of humanity’s eternal legacy amongst the stars. People can add their DNA, photos, and stories at www.lifeship.com,” said Ben Haldeman, CEO, LifeShip.
Are you ready to go One Step Further
Getting science experiments or brand payloads to the Moon may seem initially daunting.
That’s why Astrolab will partner with you at every stage to deploy your science or brand payload successfully on the Lunar surface:
Contact us
Contact us to learn more about the possibilities and exact specifications of FLEX Universal Payload
Optimize
We’ll work with you to configure your cargo for the FLEX Universal Payload
Lunar Preparation
We’ll partner with you to optimize your science or brand payload for Lunar success
