A Colorado-built moon rover set to notch up a number of historic firsts will not be completing its mission near the Lunar South Pole. Lunar Outpost’s Mobile Autonomous Prospecting Platform (or MAPP) rover was unable to exit onto the moon’s surface after the lunar lander carrying the rover landed on its side Thursday morning.
Lunar Outpost stated in a press release Friday the rover was operational and collecting data while trapped within its external garage attached to the side of the lander.
“Our data paints a clear picture that MAPP survived the landing attempt and would have driven on the lunar surface and achieved our mission objectives had it been given the opportunity,” the release said.
The lander, from Texas-based Intuitive Machines, was using autonomous systems in the final moments of its attempted touchdown. In a Thursday afternoon press conference, Intuitive Machines CEO Stephen Altemus said it appeared to have problems with its laser rangefinders, which also malfunctioned during the company’s first off-kilter Moon landing in 2024. Intuitive Machines said its latest spacecraft crashed inside a crater 250 meters from its intended landing site.
Lunar Outpost’s MAPP rover mission would have seen it become the first U.S. robotic rover on the surface of the moon. It would have also tested first-of-its-kind lunar 4G Nokia cellphone technology and completed the first sale of so-called “space resources” in human history—by scooping up a small amount of moon dirt for NASA.
Unable to complete its first mission, Lunar Outpost is now looking at upcoming MAPP rover projects intended for launch sometime in the next few years. One would study a lunar magnetic anomaly known as the Reiner Gamma, while the company’s third mission is heading back to the Lunar South Pole. Both those missions still plan to use Intuitive Machines landers. Additionally, the company’s Australian subsidiary also has a rover mission planned for the moon, which earned the nickname “Roo-ver.”
Long term, Lunar Outpost was also selected as the primary contractor to build the next-generation moon buggy for astronauts on the Artemis missions.
