Astrolab

Recognized under Tier 2 — In-Situ Resource Utilization, Astrolab is a California-based company developing the FLEX lunar rover, a mobility platform intended to carry astronauts, cargo, and payloads across the lunar surface. Since unveiling a full-scale working prototype in 2022, the company has logged thousands of hours of field and lab testing of crewed and telerobotic operation, payload deployment, and rough-terrain mobility. NASA has selected Astrolab as one of two providers developing a crewed lunar rover for Artemis, with the company adapting its FLEX architecture into a new Crewed Lunar Vehicle variant; NASA anticipates these rovers reaching the Moon by 2028. Separately, Astrolab has an agreement with SpaceX to land a FLEX rover on the Moon as soon as late 2026. Surface mobility of this kind is a precondition for ISRU work broadly: resource deposits like polar ice are only useful if crews and robots can physically reach and return from them.