News

JAXA and Toyota to jointly develop manned Lunar Rover

The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) and Toyota Motor Corporation (Toyota) have announced that they will be studying the possibility of a collaboration on international space exploration. As part of this, both the organisations will first work towards the development of a lunar rover.

Toyota and JAXA are already conducting a joint study on a manned rover, which employs fuel cell technology. The development of this vehicle will now be hastened. The rover is aimed at aiding human exploration of the moon. The rover will be pressurized and have a claimed range of over 10,000 km. The first manned missions to moon are expected to take place in the 2030s, while JAXA expects to launch the rover into space by 2029.

The concept of the rover that has been revealed is a 6-wheeled vehicle that measures 6 m in length, 5.2 m in width and 3.8 m in height. It has a total living space of 13 cubic meters and can accommodate 2 people (4 in an emergency). Astronauts would be able to live inside the rover without wearing space suits. The rover will also be capable of astronaut, remote or autonomous operation modes.

 
Live To Drive