Photo: NASA
People tend to forget how much R&D went into designing and building the Apollo-era Lunar Roving Vehicle. Several different proposals came across NASA's desk before the iconic Moon buggy we all know and love was chosen. But even by Apollo standards, NASA's struggle to decide on who will build the next generation Lunar Terrain Vehicle (LTV) for the Artemis program is abjectly frustrating. Via an announcement from the Johnson Space Center Office of Procurement, we now know it will take at least four more months for NASA to make their final decision.
Had all gone according to plan, NASA intended to have the contracts signed and production orders put in place for the Artemis program by November 27th, 2023, at the absolute latest, in hopes of getting R&D and production facilities up and running in time for the Artemis V mission due to launch by the end of the decade at the earliest. But on a break-neck schedule where a few months here or there could mean the difference between succeeding or failing to deliver the LTV to the Moon before the equivalent Russian or Chinese mission, a four-month delay may have more repercussions for NASA than one might first think.
Under the changes made to the contract selection process, NASA now expects to make a final decision on the LTV contract by March 31st, 2024, or less than eight months before NASA's first human-crewed circumnavigation of the Moon since Apollo, Artemis II, is due to launch in November of that year. At the moment, some of North America and Europe's finest aerospace contractors are hard at work honing their proposals for submission to NASA before the deadline. The contingent of Boeing and General Motors often sees the most press attention in regard to the LTV program.
But other teams like the group consisting of Northrop Grumman and Michelin, as well as the Leidos group working with NASCAR of all people, still maintain a chance of sniping the super-lucrative NASA contract with an extra 120 days to fine-tune their designs to the Artemis program's specific specifications. Under the guidelines of NASA's contract, whoever wins the lucrative prize would have permission not just to build the LTV for the Artemis program but also for other non-government private space missions that may be announced for the coming decade.
Meaning, of course, the amount of money on the line for the eventual winner of the LTV program is bound to be astronomical, pun absolutely intended. For the moment, all parties involved are going back to the drawing board to refine their designs even further with the extra 16 weeks allotted to them. Whoever it is that ultimately winds up on top remains to be seen.
Under the changes made to the contract selection process, NASA now expects to make a final decision on the LTV contract by March 31st, 2024, or less than eight months before NASA's first human-crewed circumnavigation of the Moon since Apollo, Artemis II, is due to launch in November of that year. At the moment, some of North America and Europe's finest aerospace contractors are hard at work honing their proposals for submission to NASA before the deadline. The contingent of Boeing and General Motors often sees the most press attention in regard to the LTV program.
But other teams like the group consisting of Northrop Grumman and Michelin, as well as the Leidos group working with NASCAR of all people, still maintain a chance of sniping the super-lucrative NASA contract with an extra 120 days to fine-tune their designs to the Artemis program's specific specifications. Under the guidelines of NASA's contract, whoever wins the lucrative prize would have permission not just to build the LTV for the Artemis program but also for other non-government private space missions that may be announced for the coming decade.
Meaning, of course, the amount of money on the line for the eventual winner of the LTV program is bound to be astronomical, pun absolutely intended. For the moment, all parties involved are going back to the drawing board to refine their designs even further with the extra 16 weeks allotted to them. Whoever it is that ultimately winds up on top remains to be seen.
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