Astrobotic receives contract award from Thales Alenia Space

Astrobotic has received a contract award from Thales Alenia Space. An Astrobotic milestone will focus on development of the wheel system.

Astrobotic received the contract award from Thales Alenia Space.

Thales Alenia Space is a joint venture owned 67% by Thales and 33% by Leonardo.

Multi-Purpose Habitation is an Italian Space Agency program and is being developed with NASA as a partner.

Thales Alenia Space has an Italian Space Agency contract covering the preliminary design phase of the MPH module.

An Astrobotic milestone will focus on developing the wheel system.

The Wheel Assembly connects the hub and rim through lightweight tensioned cables, while flexible tread elements let the wheel adapt to the lunar surface.

Astrobotic has spent more than 16 years working on lunar mobility, and the Astrobotic Mobility Platform (AMP) rover carries Astrobotic-developed wheels as payload.

The wheel system has a 10-year specification, its landing site is the lunar south pole, and it is expected to become a reliable flight-ready system.

The award places Astrobotic in a contractual relationship with Thales Alenia Space, a joint venture between Thales and Leonardo. Thales Alenia Space also holds an Italian Space Agency contract for preliminary design of the MPH module, which is being developed with NASA.

The wheel system's lunar south pole landing site, 10-year specification and expected evolution to a reliable flight-ready system are relevant to tracking lunar surface mobility hardware.

Astrobotic's milestone will focus on developing the wheel system.