Lunar Outpost announced May 24 it raised a $12 million seed round from several investors. Explorer 1 Fund led the round with participation from Promus Ventures, Space Capital, Type 1 Ventures and Cathexis Ventures.Golden, Colorado-based Lunar Outpost will use the funding to further development of a line of robotic lunar rovers. The company is working on its first rover, the Mobile Autonomous Prospecting Platform (MAPP), that will go on Intuitive Machines’ IM-2 lunar lander launching in 2023. A second rover will launch on another Intuitive Machines lander in 2024, both part of NASA’s Commercial Lunar Payload Services program.The funding “allows us to build the next class of robotic systems on the moon,” said Justin Cyrus, chief executive of Lunar Outpost, in an interview. While the MAPP rovers weigh 10 to 20 kilograms each, the company is envisioning a larger rover weighing 100 to 200 kilograms capable of operating for years on the lunar surface.“We already have Earth-specific prototypes of that class,” he said. “What this allows us to do is space-rate those technologies and line up a mission or two.”
Quote from: Lunar Outpost CEO, Justin CyrusWe @LunarOutpostInc received the first payment on a space resource contract in history yesterday. Thank you to @NASA and @SenBillNelson for the opportunity to play a role in the Artemis program! To the MoonQuote from: Jeff FoustLunar Outpost, a company that last year won a $1 award for collecting lunar resources for NASA, got its first, 10% milestone payment at a #SpaceSymposium briefing. Yes, a check for 10¢.Quote from: Forrest E. Meyen, Co-founder and CSO of Lunar OutpostIt’s true. Here is our 10 cent check signed by @SenBillNelsonhttps://twitter.com/StarlordCyrus/status/1430182223932796946https://twitter.com/ForrestMeyen/status/1429940567526580224
We @LunarOutpostInc received the first payment on a space resource contract in history yesterday. Thank you to @NASA and @SenBillNelson for the opportunity to play a role in the Artemis program! To the Moon
Lunar Outpost, a company that last year won a $1 award for collecting lunar resources for NASA, got its first, 10% milestone payment at a #SpaceSymposium briefing. Yes, a check for 10¢.
It’s true. Here is our 10 cent check signed by @SenBillNelson
The agency has selected three private teams — led by the companies Intuitive Machines, Lunar Outpost and Venturi Astrolab, respectively — to develop their versions of the Lunar Terrain Vehicle (LTV), the rover that Artemis astronauts will drive around the moon's southern polar region beginning in 2030.
