SpaceX is set to launch an unmanned Starship cargo mission in mid-2026. For that purpose, it has already started taking bookings for the voyage to moon and possibly a ‘SUV-sized rover’ spacecraft can sit on the rocket in that mission. The rover named ‘Flexible Logistics and Exploration (FLEX)’ is about the size of a ‘Jeep Wrangler’ car. It is slightly larger in size than NASA’s ‘Perseverance’ rover stationed on Mars.
This rover vehicle is being developed by startup company ‘Astrolab’. Recently, they have signed an agreement with Elon Musk’s rocket company. It is said that flex can help in the construction of permanent human settlements on the moon and its distant places.
“This is SpaceX’s first commercial cargo contract for the lunar surface,” Astrolab CEO Jarrett Matthews told the New York Times, a US trade publication, on Friday. Once landed on the Moon, Flex will become the largest rover to travel on the lunar surface. Astrolab customers are already waiting.”
On the other hand, Astrolab claimed to tech site Engadget that they are building a spacecraft that will one day carry various equipment, raw materials and people across the entire lunar surface. It will have a robotic arm to assist the cargo. And it can travel more than 24 km per hour. In addition, it can carry two astronauts.
