Milford, Michigan. — General Motors and Lockheed Martin said Thursday they plan to produce a range of lunar rovers for commercial space missions and services powered by the automaker’s electric vehicle battery technology.
The companies said they plan to test the batteries in space later this year, aiming to have their first battery-powered vehicle on the moon in 2025. In addition to potential NASA offerings, they hope to strike deals with private companies such as Amazon. Blue Origin founder Jeff Bezos and Elon Musk’s SpaceX.
“The interest around the world is enormous,” said Derek Hodgins, director of product strategy and sales for lunar infrastructure services at Lockheed Martin, during a joint event here at the GM Proving Ground.
The announcement marks the latest expansion of GM’s Ultium technologies, including batteries, outside the automobile market. The automaker has also announced partnerships to use or test the technologies in electric motors for trains, boats and other industries.
GM and Lockheed last year announced a partnership to develop a spacecraft on the lunar surface using its Ultium vehicle and battery platform for NASA, which is evaluating projects after bidding for its upcoming Artemis missions to the moon.
The companies say their expertise in developing NASA’s lunar module is being used to develop other types of vehicles for space missions and services such as data and soil collection.
The Lunar Mobility Vehicle is being developed for commercial use in a multimillion-dollar simulator at the General Motors Test Lab that simulates the lunar surface and atmosphere, including the change in gravity. General Motors was previously the primary subcontractor that helped Boeing build a similar vehicle that was used during three Apollo missions to the moon.
The new vehicle is designed to be more technologically advanced, more powerful and last at least 10 years on the moon. Its top speed, for example, would be 12 mph compared to 7 mph for Apollo-era vehicles. It is also designed to operate independently when not in use by astronauts.
“This is not a buggy on the dunes,” Hodgins said. “These are tools that were not available in the late 1960s.”
Lockheed Martin is already talking to potential customers for the lunar modules, according to Hodgins. He declined to disclose the companies involved in the discussions.
GM also said Thursday that it is drawing on its expertise in developing a Hummer EV for system control, battery management, and torque management for propulsion control. for the new lunar module programme.
“It’s moon dust, but there’s also craters, rocks and other things that you’re going to have to navigate through,” Hummer vehicle dynamics performance engineer Drew Mitchell said Thursday.
The project is still under development. However, executives said they expect to move to the “implementation phase” soon.