Castrol announced its collaboration with Lunar Outpost to support a strategic milestone in commercial space exploration. Castrol will be the lead Mission Control collaborator for Lunar Voyage 1 (LV1), which will carry Lunar Outpost’s Moon Autonomous Prospecting Platform (MAPP) rover, the first-ever commercial rover to land on the Moon.
Mission Control will be the primary hub for planning, decision-making, and control throughout the mission. The operators will monitor the MAPP rover’s autonomous functions to guide it through a challenging environment, collecting valuable data and prospecting information from an array of sensors to inform future lunar programs.
Castrol has worked in the space industry for over sixty years, on everything from the Apollo missions to the Space Shuttle programme and the International Space Station. The formulations of Castrol’s space-grade lubricants enable performance in the most extreme vacuum environments, keeping advanced space technologies operating under any conditions.
“Castrol has been working with the space industry, providing lubricants for critical mechanisms for over 60 years. Successful missions depend on the coming together of experts, pioneers, and visionaries. We are thrilled to collaborate with Lunar Outpost, a truly visionary team pushing the limits of technological advancement and space exploration,” said Sandeep Sangwan, Chief Marketing Officer, Castrol.
“Our collaboration with Castrol reflects a shared vision for future lunar missions and a commitment to pushing the limits of exploration. Castrol has worked with NASA since the first Apollo missions. Having the expertise of industry leaders with space heritage will not only support our commercial goals for Lunar Voyage 1 but will also help the space industry thrive,” said Justin Cyrus, CEO at Lunar Outpost.. .