'We want to be the UPS or FedEx of the moon': A Hawthorne company's big moonshot

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Hawthorne firm Venturi Astrolab is testing a lunar rover that could help build out settlements on the moon and do more than competitors' rovers.

A Hawthorne startup is joining much bigger players in the drive to explore settlement on the moon, as plans by NASA to send astronauts back there heats up the commercial lunar market.

“We are transitioning now from just the earliest phase of exploration to the early stage of settlement,” said Chris Hadfield, a retired Canadian astronaut and advisory board member for Astrolab. “This is going to become part of human commerce and human geography,” he said of early moon settlement.as part of its Artemis program, which aims to land the first woman and first person of color on the moon.

Matthews spent 10 years at NASA’s JPL working on Mars rovers before moving to SpaceX and developing the system that allows the Crew Dragon astronaut-carrying capsule to dock with the International Space Station. “Astronaut time is the most precious time in the world,” he said. “The more we can do robotically … the better.”

Astrolab is not betting solely on government contracts for its business case. Matthews would not discuss the company’s investors or finances, citing Astrolab’s status as a privately-held firm, but said he thinks the rover will be competitive for a number of commercial and civil opportunities.

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