Starship Could Carry Jeep-Sized Rover to the Moon as Early as 2026

Thanks to a new commercial contract between SpaceX and aerospace startup Astrolab, the biggest lunar rover yet will hitch a ride on Starship when the rocket makes its debut trip to the Moon. 

Astrolab announced Friday that it had reached an agreement with SpaceX regarding the transport of its Flexible Logistics and Exploration (FLEX) rover. Per the agreement, SpaceX will use its super-tall Starship rocket and corresponding Super Heavy booster to bring FLEX to the Moon whenever SpaceX is ready to do so.

SpaceX CEO Elon Musk initially hinted that Starship’s orbital test would occur sometime in late 2022. When that didn’t happen, he said there was a possibility launch would occur in February 2023, and if not then, sometime in March. We’ve now passed both of those windows. Although SpaceX has finally rolled Starship’s Ship 24 out to Starbase’s orbital launch pad, anything could happen between now and the rocket’s estimated April 10 liftoff. 

Given that Starship will need to prove viable in orbit before it can touch the Moon, we’ve got a while until SpaceX fulfills its end of the new Astrolab contract. Astrolab estimates that FLEX will explore the Moon’s surface as early as mid-2026, achieving the startup’s goal of deploying the most capable lunar rover yet. 

Credit: Astrolab

At about the size of a Jeep, Flex is almost three times bigger than its largest predecessor. Its size enables it to serve as an unpressurized passenger vehicle, experimentation point, and payload delivery vehicle. The rover has previously been referred to by its makers as “UPS for the Moon. With its robotic arm, FLEX can set up its own payloads, acting like a mobile distribution center for the Moon. FLEX’s underslung payload interface can carry up to three cubic meters of tools, sample containers, and other property, helping it to deliver other companies’ payloads to the lunar surface. 

Up to two astronauts can sit atop FLEX as it traverses the Moon’s terrain at 15 miles per hour. A suite of sensors allows FLEX to operate semi-autonomously, avoiding obstacles as it picks up or delivers payloads. Under normal conditions, the rover’s four-wheel crab steering format helps it keep its three-meter solar panel array pointed toward the Sun; during trickier maneuvers, FLEX can stow those panels away to prevent them from accumulating dust. 

Astrolab hopes to use FLEX to help establish a long-term presence on the Moon (and someday do the same on Mars). “Our Astrolab team has created much more than a rover for use on the Moon or Mars,” Astrolab founder and CEO Jaret Matthews said 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.”