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The Lunar Outpost LTV, named The Eagle, has taken some notes from off-roading vehicles in its design. Tools on the side, like shovels and traction boards, are easily accessible on panels inspired by off-roading molle panels.<\/p>\n
Through various tests, including with astronauts, the company has evolved its designs that include T-bar driving handles, wide berth seats so astronauts in their bulky suits can sit comfortably (or as comfortably as astronauts can be), and rooftop solar panels that can deploy for charging.<\/p>\n
Lunar Outpost showcased two versions of the Eagle for members of the press, including the Raven for autonomous testing demonstrations and the Falcon, which is a larger, sleeker-looking model that\u2019s more likely to be the shape and size of the eventual Eagle LTV on the lunar surface.<\/p>\n
Three Competing Companies and NASA Selection Process<\/b><\/p>\n
Lunar Outpost<\/a> is one of three companies that made it out of phase one for NASA\u2019s selection process for a new LTV. The other two are Texas-based Intuitive Machines<\/a> and California-based Venturi Astrolab<\/a>.<\/p>\n This is all part of NASA\u2019s Artemis campaign<\/a> to send humans to the moon, preparing them for Mars exploration. It\u2019s an intensive process for an intensive goal.<\/p>\n From NASA\u2019s page<\/a> on the moon mobility for Artemis missions: \u201cThe LTV will be able to handle the extreme conditions at the Moon\u2019s South Pole and will feature advanced technologies for power management, autonomous driving, and state of the art communications and navigation systems. Crews will use the LTV to explore, transport scientific equipment, and collect samples of the lunar surface, much farther than they could on foot, enabling increased science returns.\u201d<\/p>\n During a two-day event for a handful of press at Lunar Outpost\u2019s Arvada Mission Control and Lunar Vehicle Testing Site, company leadership highlighted how their LTV has achieved all of NASA\u2019 stated requirements and then some.<\/p>\n \u201cWhere we are right now in the story\u2013we all finished phase one. There were three companies that were competitive, that were selected from a pool of bidders over a year ago,\u201d said Michael Moreno, VP of Strategy for Lunar Outpost. \u201cOnly one company, maybe two, is going to win phase two.\u201d<\/p>\n The expected NASA announcement<\/a> on the winning design could come by November. NASA\u2019s contract<\/a> could have a combined maximum potential value of $4.6 billion for all awards.<\/p>\n Lunar Outpost and Colorado\u2019s Role in Aerospace<\/b><\/p>\n Lunar Outpost was founded in 2017 in Golden and now has 150 employees scattered around the globe, 85 of whom are in Colorado.<\/p>\n \u201cColorado is the perfect place for a company like Lunar Outpost,\u201d said Forrest Meyen, one of Lunar Outpost\u2019s co-founders and chief strategy officer. \u201cIt’s the largest per capita concentration of aerospace talent in the United States.\u201d<\/p>\n Justin Cyrus, another co-founder and CEO, attended the University of Colorado at Boulder for his undergrad before going to the School of Mines in Golden for graduate studies.<\/p>\n He said Colorado\u2019s multiple universities around the state with aerospace programs allowed them to build a solid workforce quickly.<\/p>\n \u201cColorado, as a state, there’s a rich history with the Space Force being down in Colorado Springs\u2013and Space Command,\u201d Cyrus said. \u201cThis would be the first flagship civil space program run out of Colorado. So I think this is something we should be proud of as Coloradans.\u201d<\/p>\n Though the company\u2019s Mission Control is based in Arvada and the headquarters are in Golden, it\u2019s LTV testing site is on a remote ranch in southern Colorado near the small towns of Rye and Colorado City, about 45 minutes south of Pueblo.<\/p>\n Their \u201cLunar Vehicle Test Site\u201d is actually based on a ranch owned by the Cyrus family. Justin\u2019s two other brothers, Julian (co-founder) and Austin, are also with the company.<\/p>\n \u201cYou have hills, you have cliffs, you have dusty areas that you can shape to look like the lunar environment, and at the same time, it’s still close enough to where our headquarters is that our engineers can get down here in a couple hours,\u201d Justin Cyrus said. \u201cI love coming down here. Honestly, it’s absolutely beautiful. That doesn’t hurt.\u201d<\/p>\n According to the Colorado Office of Economic Development and International Trade<\/a> (OEDIT), the Centennial State is America\u2019s second largest space economy and number one per capita in aerospace employment.<\/p>\n The Colorado Springs Chamber and EDC<\/a> says the city has over 150 aerospace companies.<\/p>\n NASA contracts in Colorado generated more than $5 billion in economic activity in FY23, supporting 21,600 jobs and contributing $190 million in state tax revenue, according to NASA data<\/a>.<\/p>\n Human Exploration and NASA Budget Cuts<\/b><\/p>\n Earlier this year, President Donald Trump\u2019s recommended budget request<\/a> involved an over 24% decrease to NASA\u2019s funding.<\/p>\n The Planetary Society, a nonprofit promoting space science and exploration, said it\u2019s the largest percentage cut ever proposed for NASA<\/a> and would bring the NASA workforce to its smallest size since \u201cbefore the dawn of the space age.\u201d<\/p>\n Congress has the ultimate say over appropriations, and it’s unclear how much will be slashed ahead of the October 1 Fiscal Year.<\/p>\n But the silver lining, at least for companies like Lunar Outpost and NASA\u2019s Artemis campaign to send humans back to the moon, was an increase to human exploration projects. The recently passed spending bill (also known as the \u2018Big, Beautiful Bill) similarly allocated more money to the Artemis campaign.<\/p>\n \u201cWe’re one of the only line items that actually gets an increase. And I think this line item was protected correctly. The reason I say that is our line item has spacesuits. Our line item has the only mobility for astronauts on the moon that the US is making. Period,\u201d said Justin Cyrus with Lunar Outpost. \u201cOur line item is what is necessary for humans to get back to the moon and eventually on to Mars.\u201d<\/p>\n Last week, NASA\u2019s acting Administrator Sean Duffy reiterated the agency\u2019s laser focus on human exploration as it moves away from earth sciences.<\/p>\n \u201cAll of the climate science and all of the other priorities that the last administration had at NASA, we\u2019re going to move aside and all of the science that we do is going to be directed towards exploration,\u201d acting Administrator Duffy said in a FOX Business interview<\/a>. \u201cWhich is the mission of NASA. That\u2019s why we have NASA is to explore, not do all of these earth sciences.\u201d<\/p>\n Experts and researchers have expressed concern about these impacts as NASA\u2019s climate science research aids in everything from weather forecasting to farming. And NASA\u2019s founding document<\/a> said its focus was \u201cTo provide for research into problems of flight within and outside the earth\u2019s atmosphere, and for other purposes,\u201d specifying earth\u2019s atmosphere first.<\/p>\n But President Trump further revealed his administration\u2019s direction for NASA and space in an Aug. 13 Executive Order<\/a> titled \u201cEnabling Competition in the Commercial Space Industry,\u201d which essentially pushes for deregulation and promotion of more commercial launches.<\/p>\n Critics and politics aside, companies like Lunar Outpost are well-positioned to move forward (or skyward) in the coming years if their LTV is selected by NASA.<\/p>\n The Eagle and What\u2019s Next for Lunar Outpost<\/b><\/p>\n Asking any one of Lunar Outpost\u2019s senior level staff about the company\u2019s chances to win NASA\u2019s contract will yield a similar degree of confidence in their product.<\/p>\n \u201cWe are the best vehicle, and we’re going to win the contract,\u201d said VP of Strategy Michael Moreno.<\/p>\n \u201cWe think our chances are really good. We’ve developed not only a great vehicle, but we’ve exceeded NASA’s requirements across the board. We’ve built multiple prototypes that were not even required for the project, and we’ve demonstrated the technology in the real world,\u201d said Chief Strategy Officer Forrest Meyen.<\/p>\n \u201cI’m quite confident. There is no other company on earth that can provide the capabilities that has a team we do. Not only within Lunar Outpost. We have General Motors, Goodyear, MDA and Leidos. We have decades of human space flight experience,\u201d said CEO Justin Cyrus.<\/p>\n Each one of them highlighted their experience already sending a rover to the moon<\/a>. In March this year, Lunar Outpost was part of a mission<\/a> to gather data on the lunar South Pole, where the Artemis mission intends to land.<\/p>\n The company\u2019s small rover was meant to disembark off a lander designed by Intuitive Machines, but the lander ended up on its side<\/a>, unable to open its compartment to deploy the rover.<\/p>\n Lunar Outpost still considered it a success<\/a> as they were able to send and transmit data from the rover despite its lack of mobility.<\/p>\n As for why the LTV is called the \u201cEagle,\u201d Cyrus said it’s a callback to the famous Apollo 11 landing.<\/p>\n \u201cIt’s called the Eagle because it has that historic call sign,\u201d he said. \u201cThere’s nothing more memorable in space flight history than \u2018The Eagle has landed\u2019 that happened during the Apollo era. And honestly, we would just love to hear that call out as a part of the Lunar Terrain Vehicle program again in 2029.\u201d<\/p>\n Email Senior Reporter Brett Forrest at\u00a0brett.forrest@koaa.com<\/a>. Follow\u00a0@brettforrestTV<\/a>\u00a0on X and\u00a0Brett Forrest News<\/a>\u00a0on Facebook.<\/p>\n Pueblo County Coroner’s Mortuary Suspended – Bodies Found Behind “Hidden” Door Says DOLA<\/p>\n A funeral home operated by the Pueblo County coroner is suspended, according to documents from the Colorado Department of Regulatory Agencies (DORA). “Mr. Cotter stated that the bodies were awaiting cremation and admitted that some bodies had been in the room for approximately fifteen years,” part of the DORA report reads. “Mr. Cotter admitted to inspectors that he may have issued next-of-kin fake cremains.”<\/p>\n Pueblo County Coroner’s Mortuary Suspended – Bodies Found Behind “Hidden” Door Says DOLA<\/p>\n News Tips <\/p>\n What should KOAA5 cover? Is there a story, topic, or issue we should revisit? Have a story you believe should make the light of day? Let our newsroom know with the contact form below. <\/p>\n<\/p>\n
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