Lunar Outpost, a space company based in Golden, has won a $220 million contract from NASA to provide transportation for astronauts who could land on the moon as early as 2028.
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Lunar Outpost is one of two companies chosen to supply the wheels for the crews expected to eventually set up infrastructure and a semi-permanent presence on the moon. The company’s rover, called Pegasus, can operate autonomously by teleoperation or with people on board.
The other company awarded a contract for what NASA calls light terrain vehicles is Astrolab, based in California. Blue Origin, owned by Jeff Bezos, will provide landers to deliver the rovers to an area near the moon’s south pole.
“We’ve spent the better part of the past decade engineering advanced mobility solutions designed for the realities of operating and building on the lunar surface,” Justin Cyrus, Lunar Outpost CEO and founder, said in a statement.
Pegasus is built to withstand the moon’s harshest environments, Cyrus said. The vehicle has advanced thermal management systems, enabling it to operate for prolonged periods through extreme temperature swings.
Cyrus, a Colorado School of Mines alumnus, said Pegasus leverages technological advancements and lessons learned from another Lunar Outpost rover, MAPP, or Mobile Autonomous Prospecting Platform. MAPP collected data during its journey to the moon and on the lunar surface in 2025.
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“Pegasus gives astronauts the range, reliability and flexibility needed to thrive in new terrain as we identify and prepare the sites that will become the first permanent lunar outpost,” Cyrus said.
The company has a test facility in Rye, in south-central Colorado.
Lunar Outpost led the development of Pegasus in partnership with General Motors, The Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company and Leidos.
The goal is to have the rovers in place before astronauts are expected to land on the moon in early 2028 as part of NASA’s Artemis program. Four astronauts flew around the moon on the Artemis II mission in April, venturing 248,655 miles from Earth and farther into space than any humans have.
The astronauts flew in a spacecraft designed and engineered at Lockheed Martin in Jefferson County. The launch vehicle that propelled the Orion spacecraft was designed and built by United Launch Alliance in Centennial in partnership with Boeing.
NASA’s plan is to establish a base on the moon starting in 2029, achieving a semi-permanent crew presence by 2032.
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