About
Venturi Space

After two decades of innovation in terrestrial electric vehicles, Venturi’s President Gildo Pastor has repositioned the firm in the space sector, aiming to forge new collaborations with NASA (and the ESA in a second phase).

The change of strategy ties in 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.

A development prototype of the FLIP rover was unveiled at the 75th International Astronautical Congress in Milan.

The FLIP platform’s mission is to validate, in real conditions, the innovative technologies developed by Venturi Astrolab and Venturi Space for its big brother FLEX, which is
expected to be launched mid-2027.

The astromobile, designed by Sacha Lakic, will be transported mid-2027 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.

• 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.

Venturi Space wants to help the ESA achieve those objectives, by providing a comprehensive LTV service that includes everything from designing to operating the vehicle.

Mobility on the surface of other celestial bodies is already one of the big challenges for the coming decades. To get ahead of the curve, Venturi Space has already approached the ESA.

Its project builds on real-world experience acquired with the rover created by the company’s strategic US partner Venturi Astrolab, Inc. for which it designed the wheels and batteries.