About
Venturi Space
Lunar mobility by Venturi Space: excellence times infinity.
2021
Powered
by innovation
In 2021, after two decades of innovation in the field of terrestrial electric vehicles, Gildo Pastor, President of Venturi, steered the Group towards the space industry. He set out a dual ambition: to collaborate with both NASA and the ESA.
The strategic shift towards the space sector is aligned with NASA’s Artemis programme, that will see humanity return to the Moon in 2030, after the US space agency invited bids from contractors to design, manufacture, and operate a lunar terrain vehicle for transporting astronauts and equipment.
2024
Exploring the Moon
In 2024, NASA pre-selected the rover FLEX from the American company Venturi Astrolab, Inc. Its strategic partner, Venturi Space, is in charge of designing and manufacturing the wheels (in Switzerland), the batteries (in Monaco) and the battery management systems (in France).
Summer 2026
Astrobotic’s Griffin Mission One
(Griffin-1)
Unveiled at the 75th International Astronautical Congress in Milan, the FLIP rover will land aboard Astrobotic’s lander at the lunar South Pole no earlier than Summer 2026. Its mission is to test, under real conditions, the innovative technologies developed by Venturi Astrolab, Inc. and Venturi Space, paving the way for its larger counterpart, FLEX, which is set for its first journey in 2028.
2028
SpaceX first, then NASA
The astromobile, designed by Sacha Lakic, will be transported in 2028 to the lunar South Pole by SpaceX. Controlled remotely from Earth, it will conduct scientific experiments and commercial activities.
In the meantime, NASA may select the vehicle. Consequently, from 2030 onwards, most of the rover’s operational time would be devoted to missions for the US space agency. Outside these missions, the rover would carry on its activities for private purposes.
2030 : ON BOTH SIDES OF THE ATLANTIC
The European Space Agency (ESA) has three stated objectives:
- To establish a long-term European presence in low Earth orbit.
- To send the first European astronauts to explore the Moon’s surface by 2030.
- To take part in the first crewed mission to Mars.
From then on, collaboration with the ESA became one of Venturi Space’s ambitions. The stated objective is to offer an integrated service built around a rover, from design through to operations.
Mobility on the surface of other celestial bodies is already a major challenge for the coming decades. This is why Venturi Space is proposing the MONA LUNA rover to the ESA, ahead of schedule.
Venturi Space draws on the experience gained with the FLEX rover, developed by its American strategic partner, Venturi Astrolab, Inc., for which it designed the wheels and batteries.
