JAXA, the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency, and Toyota Motor Corp. have named their joint manned pressurized rover. The Lunar Cruiser name, which references the Toyota Land Cruiser SUV, will be used for the fuel-cell electric vehicle (FCEV). The partners say that such a form of mobility is deemed necessary for human exploration activities on the lunar surface. Even with the limited amount of energy that can be transported to the moon, the pressurized rover would have a total lunar-surface cruising range of more than 10,000 km (16,100 km).
Specs for the original concept proposal for the pressurized rover include a 6.0-m (19.7-ft) length, 5.2-m (17.1-ft) width; and a 3.8-m (12.5-ft) height—about the size of two microbuses. A living space of about 13 m³ (460 ft³) is expected to be capable of accommodating two people (four people in an emergency). The rover will be used for missions to explore the moon’s polar regions, with the aim both of investigating the possibility of using the moon’s resources―such as frozen water―and of acquiring technologies that enable exploration of the surfaces of massive heavenly bodies. The tentative plan aims to launch the lunar rover in 2029.
JAXA and Toyota signed a joint research agreement to work on a manned pressurized lunar rover last year in June 2019. A month later, Toyota established a dedicated Lunar Exploration Mobility Works and planned to expand the department’s workforce to about 30 members by the end of last year.
The two companies are working to manufacture test parts for each technological element, and the prototype rover itself, during the 2020 fiscal year. The work involves the use of simulations to confirm power and heat dissipation performance while driving, the manufacture and assessment of prototype tires, and the use of virtual reality and full-scale models to consider the layout of equipment in the cabin. During fiscal year 2021, the team will test and evaluate both the manufactured test parts and the prototype rover.
From 2022, the team will manufacture and evaluate a 1:1 scale prototype rover and acquire and verify testing data on driving systems required to explore the moon’s polar regions. From 2024, plans call for design, manufacture, and evaluation of an engineering model of the rover and the design of the actual flight model. From 2027, manufacturing of the flight model will commence, followed by performance and quality testing.
As part of their efforts, the two partners have expanded their efforts under the “Team Japan” Working Group, and have been discussing cooperating with a variety of companies in other industries via study meetings based on the theme of “a lunar society pioneered by the manned pressurized rover.” The meetings focus on how the manned pressurized rover becomes the starting point of a vision of a future lunar surface-based society while discussing the challenges associated with the creation of this type of society.
The Team Japan Working Group, led by JAXA, Toyota, and Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Ltd., was launched in August 2019. Three working groups and one session on the co-creation of a lunar society have been held to date, with about 100 companies registered.
