Astronauts will soon be able to drive on the moon.
Lockheed Martin and General Motors announced Wednesday they will develop new lunar rovers for NASA’s Artemis program, which will put humans on the moon for the first time since the end of the Apollo program in 1972.
Some of the work will happen in Colorado.
"Much of the development work from the Lockheed Martin side will be done at our Waterton Canyon Facility in Jefferson Canyon south of Littleton,” a Lockheed spokesperson said. “GM will do their part at their facilities in Michigan and other locations.”
While the two companies are developing the new rover with the intentions of having the Artemis program use it, NASA has not officially awarded a contract to them for its development. Lockheed vice president Lisa Callahan said even without a NASA contract, she sees value in designing these vehicles now.
“As we're looking towards the future, this partnership is really about getting ahead of NASA's future procurements that they may have, and really looking at the commercial environment that's going to be on the lunar surface and building this partnership in advance of that so that we can lead the way in mobility on the moon,” Callahan said.
Lockheed recently finished construction on the Orion spacecraft, which astronauts will use in the first Artemis mission later this year.
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