Lunar Outpost (company)

Lunar Outpost

Company type	Private
Industry	Aerospace
Founded	2017 (2017)
Founder	Justin Cyrus Julian Cyrus AJ Gemer Forrest Meyen
Headquarters	Golden , USA
Number of employees	200 (2024)
Website	www.lunaroutpost.com

Lunar Outpost is a private space company headquartered in Golden, Colorado, USA. It is active in the areas of space robotics, lunar surface mobility, and space resources. The company developed the Mobile Autonomous Prospecting Platform (MAPP) rover, which operated at the lunar South Pole in 2025, and holds a contract to develop a Lunar Terrain Vehicle (LTV) for the Artemis Program.

History

The company was formed in 2017 and has multiple contracted missions and projects in progress. Lunar Outpost is also one of three finalists to develop the Lunar Terrain Vehicle (LTV) for the Artemis Program. The company designed and built the Mobile Autonomous Prospecting Platform (MAPP) lunar rover carried to the lunar surface by the IM-2 mission. The rover was intended to demonstrate ISRU on the lunar surface and deploy the first cellular network on another planetary body in partnership with Nokia. The mission launched February 26, 2025 aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket and reached the lunar South Pole via the IM-2 lunar lander. The lander experienced an off-nominal landing, coming to rest on its side and was unable to deploy the MAPP rover. On the IM-3 mission, Lunar Outpost will explore Reiner Gamma.

Locations

The company operates offices across three continents, including North America, Europe, and Oceania.

The headquarters is located in Golden, Colorado, and serves as a hub for innovation and engineering. The facility includes a mission control center and a regolith simulant pit, which is used for testing platforms under conditions that simulate the lunar surface. Additionally, the Golden location houses facilities for the design, manufacturing, and testing of lunar rovers. Lunar Outpost's 1000-acre Lunar Vehicle Testing Facility is located in Southern Colorado.

Lunar Outpost EU is located in Luxembourg and was established in 2022. This office focuses on thermal energy collection, control, and storage technologies that enable systems to survive the harsh conditions of space. The LUX-Thermal energy system is currently being developed to provide customers with long-term electrical and thermal energy on the lunar surface to survive the lunar night and enhance daytime operations. The first technology created by this office, an active thermal switch, flew onboard Lunar Outpost's Lunar Voyage 1 in 2025. The team has a contract with the Luxembourg Space Agency.

Lunar Outpost Oceania is located in Melbourne, Australia and was established in 2022. This office focuses on mobility platforms and rovers for robotic exploration and payload services on planetary bodies. Along with partner EPE, they are one of the leads for the ELO2 Consortium that was selected by the Australian Space Agency to build Australia's first lunar rover.

Missions

Lunar Voyage 1

Lunar Voyage 1 launched in February 2025 and landed at the lunar South Pole in March 2025. The MAPP rover collected data and operated in cislunar space and on the lunar surface. It carried payloads from commercial, government, and science partners. The historic mission marked the first commercial rover on another planetary body and the first rover at the lunar South Pole.  

Some payloads onboard included antennas from Nokia to establish the first cellular network on another planetary body, three payloads from MIT, and a regolith collection mechanism to complete the first sale of space resources with NASA. The rover also carried a payload from Juventus FC, making them the first football club on the Moon. To commemorate the mission, Juventus released a capsule collection with Lunar Outpost and Adidas.

Due to the off-nominal landing, the IM-2 lander that carried the rover to the Moon was unable to deploy it to drive on the lunar surface.

On Lunar Voyage 1, Lunar Outpost’s Stargate Mission Control Software reached TRL 9 and maintained an uptime of 99.998%, proving its readiness for Class A human missions.  

Lunar Voyage 2

Launching 2026, Lunar Voyage 2 will deploy a MAPP rover to explore Reiner Gamma, a lunar region known for its mysterious magnetic anomaly that has perplexed scientists for centuries. Conducted in collaboration with the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory (JHU APL) and NASA, this mission aims to investigate this unique feature of the lunar surface. The data collected from Lunar Voyage 2 is expected to shed light on the Moon's magnetic properties and contribute to a deeper understanding of the Solar System's history.

Lunar Voyage 3

Launching 2027, Lunar Voyage 3 provides mobility for scientific and commercial payloads on the Moon. SpaceX will be the launch provider, and Intuitive Machines will be the landing provider for this mission.

Trailblazer Competition

The Lunar Outpost Oceania Consortium is one of two teams selected to receive Stage 1 grant funding from the Australian Government’s Moon to Mars Trailblazer Initiative. This initiative, managed by the Australian Space Agency, aims to advance Australian contributions to space exploration through the development of remotely operated and autonomous robotic lunar technologies.

In Stage 1 of the initiative, the Consortium will design and develop a lunar rover tailored for the Moon’s environmental conditions. The rover will be capable of collecting lunar regolith for delivery to NASA’s in-situ resource utilization (ISRU) facility.

The ultimate goal of the project is for the Consortium to progress to Stage 2, culminating in NASA deploying an Australian-developed lunar rover to the Moon. The Trailblazer Initiative underscores Australia’s growing role in the global space exploration landscape, fostering innovation and international collaboration.

Lunar Outpost Eagle (Lunar Terrain Vehicle)

The Lunar Terrain Vehicle (LTV) is an unpressurized lunar rover under development by NASA to support the Artemis program's goal of returning humans to the Moon and establishing a sustainable presence. The Eagle LTV is designed to transport astronauts and cargo across the lunar surface, facilitating scientific research and exploration.

In April 2024, NASA selected three companies, including Lunar Outpost, to advance the development of the LTV, tasked with creating rover concepts capable of operating in the Moon's extreme environment, including its rugged terrain and temperature fluctuations. The LTV is expected to support missions starting with Artemis V, anticipated to launch no earlier than March 2030.

Lunar Outpost leads the Lunar Dawn team and is collaborating with industry leaders General Motors, The Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company, Leidos, and MDA Space to develop the human-rated Eagle LTV. The team brings together deep spaceflight heritage from the Apollo program and the International Space Station, global automotive expertise, and proven lunar robotics. Their rover emphasizes human-first design, safety, and reliability, with critical components like batteries and tires already significantly derisked. It features autonomous navigation and remote operations capabilities, allowing it to function independently when uncrewed and extending its utility for science, logistics, and infrastructure development.

Beyond NASA missions, the Eagle LTV is designed for commercial use during non-Artemis periods, supporting payload delivery, surface mobility services, and lunar infrastructure deployment for customers. This dual-use model aligns with NASA’s strategy to leverage commercial innovation to enhance lunar mobility and broaden access to the Moon.  

The development of the Eagle LTV is a critical component of NASA’s Artemis program, which aims to establish a sustainable human presence on the Moon and prepare for future missions to Mars. By combining human-rated safety systems, autonomous functionality, and a flexible architecture, Lunar Outpost’s LTV is positioned to be a cornerstone of long-term lunar exploration and a key enabler of humanity’s next steps into deep space.

Canary

Invented by Lunar Outpost in 2017, the Canary was developed for NASA’s Gateway to detect harmful lunar dust and protect astronauts and equipment. It is an environmental and air quality monitor that detects, analyzes, and reports on pollutants including methane, CO₂, CO, and others. The Canary monitors forest fire emissions, urban air pollution, and industrial leaks, providing real-time data on particulate matter. Deployed across 35+ states and 14 countries, Canary is used by the oil and gas industry, the U.S. Forest Service, and in urban applications.  

The success of Canary exemplifies how investment in space technologies can yield transformative benefits for life on Earth, bridging planetary exploration with environmental stewardship and public health.