It was shaping up into another ordinary day at the Colorado headquarters of the small space startup Lunar Outpost last Friday when chief executive Justin Cyrus learned of a surprise press conference called by Jared Isaacman, the new administrator of Nasa.
Cyrusâs company epitomises the many private contractors of the space agency working on a myriad of projects crucial to the Artemis program that seeks to return humans to the moon, so anything Isaacman had to say about it was naturally of interest to him.
What he didnât expect was the stunning announcement that Nasa was restructuring its entire strategy for the first human lunar landing in more than half a century, and was moving its astronauts to a later, scheduled 2028 launch attempt on Artemis IV.
Beset by technical issues that put the Artemis program billions of dollars over-budget and years behind schedule, as well as criticism that the agency was trying to do too much too soon, Nasa made a decision with significant consequences for its many commercial partners such as Lunar Outpost, and in the process created many more questions.
But in the best traditions of decades of challenging human spaceflight, Cyrus saw opportunity from adversity.
Barring further delays or rethinking by Nasaâs senior managers, the companyâs Mobile Autonomous Prospecting Platform (Mapp) rover, a small but mighty technology-packed vehicle crucial to the agencyâs plans for future long-term habitation on the moon, will now journey alongside the Artemis IV astronauts.
âHumans will be back on the moon for the first time in over 50 years and one of our rovers will be alongside, which is a pretty awesome feeling,â he said.
âFor us, selfishly, thatâs a pretty exciting prospect. The broader announcement Iâm 100% on board with, higher cadence, more missions going to the moon. Itâs fantastic Nasa has concrete plans on how they can accelerate things, and that opens up what we are doing in the background.
âAt the end of the day, rovers and robotic systems are critical to permanence on the moon. With Mapp, we are full steam ahead, the hardwareâs been done for a long time, thereâs a few checkouts that still need to be done for the electrical power system between the lander and the rover, and some software integration, but once that is complete, weâre off to the moon.â
Lunar Outpostâs story is typical of young companies that have carved out an important role for themselves in a new era of public-private partnership in space, as well as experiencing â just like Nasa itself â the obstacles and frustrations of the industry.
Founded by Cyrus, an aerospace veteran, and two friends in 2017, it has ambitious plans to construct and fly a number of rovers, of varying sizes and capabilities, for Nasaâs use on the moon, and eventually Mars.
Its largest project, the in-development Eagle lunar terrain vehicle (LTV), is billed as âthe most capable crewed and cargo transport ever builtâ for human spaceflight, and a full-size prototype impressed crowds at Floridaâs Kennedy Space Center visitor center last year.
Mapp, meanwhile, has not enjoyed much luck to date. The rugged, much smaller rover, which was set to examine dust and soil at the moonâs south pole last year, and provide vital research for a possible human moon base, did make it to the lunar surface in March, becoming the first commercial exploration vehicle to touch down.
But the spacecraft on which it made the eight-day journey from Earth â the Athena lander, made by another private space operation, Texas-based Intuitive Machines â toppled on landing and trapped the rover inside. Mapp was denied its big moment, sending signals back to Lunar Outpostâs headquarters in Golden, Colorado, that it was fully functioning and raring to go, but rendered helpless as its batteries slowly died.
It was a huge frustration for Cyrus and his more than 200 employees who had spent years developing, building, and testing it.
âIt got to the moon, it survived the tough landing, and unfortunately, we just couldnât get it out of the garage,â he said. âItâs a point of pride that we survived a tough landing, but at the same time it makes it hurt just a little bit worse.â
Lunar Outpost refused to admit defeat, and workers have worked diligently and expediently since then to ready Mapp for its next try. Elsewhere in the company, work progresses apace not only on the rovers, but a host of other projects including the development of power- and oxygen-generating systems that can be utilized by humans in space, and robotic arms to act as cranes to assist moon base construction.
Importantly, Cyrus said, the workforce is focused on quietly going about its own business, and tuning out the heavily publicized failures, delays and challenges facing others, such as Nasaâs ongoing Artemis woes.
âDonât get me wrong â on big days like today, I still have to go talk to the team like: âHey, guys, this is good, you know, this is a positive thing,ââ Cyrus said.
âBut truly, if my workforce is watching whatâs going on each and every day, worrying about how itâs going to impact their schedules, they wouldnât be getting much done, right? So I would say we have a pretty positive working relationship with constant change. It sounds a little weird, I know, but you just kind of get accustomed to it.â
Ultimately, he said, Nasa will get back to the moon for the first time since the final Apollo mission in 1972, and Lunar Outpost will be standing alongside as proof that the new era of government partnering with private companies in space is essential, potentially lucrative, and sustainable.
âWe have five missions currently signed up going to the moon, and hopefully the Eagle LTV with Nasa is going to be announced within the next couple of weeks,â he said.
âItâs kind of a step-by-step vision over the course of the next five years, and I think itâs going to be fun. In fact, I think itâs going to be an absolute blast.â
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