- General Motors (NYSE:GM) and Lockheed Martin (NYSE:LMT) say they are teaming up to develop a new lunar rover for any future NASA manned flight to the moon.
- The project does not yet have any NASA funding, but the companies say they plan to design light yet rugged vehicles that will travel faster and farther than the Apollo-era rovers of the early 1970s, which drove just 4.5 miles from the landing site; GM also helped design those vehicles.
- While NASA has not announced a contract for a lunar rover, a formal request for proposals could come later this year.
- NASA is gearing up to return astronauts to the moon in this decade, although a commitment from Congress is far from certain.
- The agency recently halted work on a human-lander system contract it awarded to Elon Musk's SpaceX after two other bidders lodged formal protests about the process.