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Astrolab is planning to operate an entire fleet of FLEX rovers on the lunar surface.
A new lunar rover has been unveiled for an upcoming mission to the moon aboard a SpaceX Starship.
Hawthorne, California-based Astrolab has reached an agreement with SpaceX to launch its Flexible Logistics and Exploration (FLEX) rover on an upcoming Starship mission to the moon. The mission is currently scheduled for as soon as the middle of 2026, according to an Astrolab statement published Friday (March 31).
When it arrives, FLEX will be the largest and most versatile rover ever to roll across the lunar surface. It appears in pictures to be a little smaller than a standard four-door car, and has a mass of over two tons with a full cargo load. It will be able to carry up to two astronauts, who can drive the vehicle using an onboard panel. FLEX is also designed to be controlled remotely in the absence of any in-person operators, and is equipped with a robotic arm capable of manipulating the craft’s modular cargo area, which can house a varying array of scientific tools and commercial technologies.
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Friday’s announcement that FLEX will launch on a SpaceX Starship atop a Super Heavy booster comes just a few weeks before the rocket is expected to attempt its first orbital test flight. Once in operation, Starship is expected to be capable of carrying 100 tons to orbit. NASA has also contracted SpaceX to supply a Starship as the Artemis program’s crewed lunar lander, currently scheduled for sometime in 2025.
In the release, Astrolab revealed that the company has already signed several agreements to carry customer payloads on FLEX’s first mission. Though there were no specifics given, Astrolab indicated the details of those arrangements will be released “later this spring.”
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Josh Dinner is Space.com’s Content Manager. He is a writer and photographer with a passion for science and space exploration, and has been working the space beat since 2016. Josh has covered the evolution of NASA’s commercial spaceflight partnerships, from early Dragon and Cygnus cargo missions to the ongoing development and launches of crewed missions to the International Space Station, and spent much of 2022 chronicling the epic of NASA’s Artemis 1 rocket. He also enjoys building 1:144 scale models of rockets and human-flown spacecraft. Find some of Josh’s launch photography on Instagram and at his website, and follow him on Twitter, where he mostly posts in haiku.
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