Image: Lockheed Martin
Lockheed Martin revealed its new concept for a fully reusable lunar lander at the International Astronautical Congress (IAC) in Bremen, Germany on Wednesday. The lander will be designed to dock with NASA’s planned Lunar Orbital Platform-Gateway for service, refueling and storage in between missions. According to Lockheed, it will be capable of carrying 2,000 pounds of cargo and supporting a crew of four on the Moon’s surface for up to two weeks at a time.
“NASA asked industry for innovative and new approaches to advance America’s goal of returning humans to the Moon, and establishing a sustainable, enduring presence there,” said Lisa Callahan, vice president and general manager of Commercial Civil Space at Lockheed Martin Space. “This lander could be used to establish a surface base, deliver scientific or commercial cargo, and conduct extraordinary exploration of the Moon.”
Lockheed says that it will be reusing some of the technology developed for NASA’s Orion deep space exploration vehicle, including avionics, life support, and communications and navigation systems, to reduce cost and development time for the lander. Lockheed is the primary contractor for Orion, which is scheduled for its first launch in 2019 and first crewed flight as early as 2021. An expected completion date for the lunar lander project has not yet been announced.
Crewed Lunar Lander Concept from Lockheed Martin Space on Vimeo.
