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CubeRover (CubeRover-TP)

Completed TRL 6 (started at 4, targeting 6)

Description

Space Policy Directive 1 directs NASA to return to the Moon. NASA is joined by an international community yearning to perform science and commercial activities in the developing lunar ecosystem. This forms a robust market as evidenced by Astrobotic's $3B sales pipeline for lunar payload delivery. The NASA Commercial Lunar Payload Services (CLPS) program has stimulated the expansion of the US economy towards the Moon with regular lunar delivery services, however, there remains a gap in surface mobility services. A substantial portion of this market demands rovers of their own or rovers as a platform to host small mobile payloads. There are currently no US small-scale commercial rover offerings. The goal of the CubeRover Tipping Point Project is to further develop Astrobotic's CubeRover as a small-scale platform to meet this world-wide demand for mobility as a service.

Benefits

The CubeRover is a first of its kind ultra-light, modular, and scalable commercial rover. Combined with commercial payload services available in CLPS, it represents a low-cost onramp to the Moon for small space programs around the world. CubeRovers contain all the subsystems necessary to provide payloads with mobility, power, communications, and protection from the lunar thermal environment. They utilize high TRL components and are currently undergoing full system flight qualification. CubeRover is designed around the form factor standardized by the CubeSat market to take advantage of heritage components and standard interfaces.

Details

Technology areaRobotic Systems > Mobility > Surface Mobility
ProgramGame Changing Development (GCD)
Lead organizationAmes Research Center, Moffett Field, CA
Start date2020-04-07
End date2022-10-21

Project contacts

Listed on TechPort itself — the most direct way to ask about this specific project.

How to get involved

This is early/mid-stage (TRL 6) — the most realistic path in is NASA SBIR/STTR, which funds small businesses and research institutions to develop technology aligned with NASA's needs (equity-free, phased funding). Check whether a current SBIR/STTR solicitation topic overlaps with this project's technology area, or contact the project directly (above) to ask.

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