Nissan is teaming up with Sierra Space and Teledyne Brown Engineering to advance a lunar rover program, with Nissan North America taking the lead on manufacturing capabilities. The plan includes building the rover’s autonomous driving systems and intelligent technologies, ensuring the vehicle can operate with minimal human intervention. Nissan will also manage production facilities in North America and oversee the development of self-sufficient systems that empower the rover to navigate, power itself, and adapt to the harsh lunar environment. This collaboration aims to push the boundaries of mobility technology beyond Earth and lay a foundation for cross-application insights that could influence consumer vehicles in the future.
Maarten Serhuis, who directs Nissan’s Alliance Innovation Laboratory in Silicon Valley, notes that the initiative is designed with a clear intent: to translate lunar technology into everyday driving solutions. The work being done on the moon is expected to illuminate pathways that can be adapted to Nissan’s broader lineup, accelerating the deployment of smarter, more capable cars. The emphasis is on developing robust control systems, advanced energy management, and user interfaces that blend human insight with machine precision, ultimately helping to shape vehicle design and functionality on Earth. This approach aligns with Nissan’s broader strategy to convert breakthrough R&D into practical automotive benefits and demonstrates how space-grade technologies can inform terrestrial mobility.
Teledyne Brown Engineering and Sierra Space bring a long track record of spacecraft expertise to the project. Teledyne Brown contributed to the early concept of a lunar rover in the 1960s and has remained at the forefront of aerospace software, systems integration, and power management. Their team will handle software architecture, the integration of disparate subsystems, and the orchestration of a reliable, single-network operation for lunar activities. Sierra Space is responsible for a substantial portion of the rover’s software stack, the mechanisms and communications framework, along with guidance and navigation capabilities essential for precise lunar movement. In addition, Arctic Cat, which operates as a subsidiary within Textron Specialized Vehicles, will take charge of the chassis and propulsion components, ensuring a rugged, dependable platform capable of withstanding the lunar terrain while delivering predictable handling and performance. Together, these partners are constructing a holistic, end-to-end solution that can serve as a blueprint for future space-enabled transport and for advanced driver-assistance systems on Earth.
Throughout the collaboration, the focus remains on creating a comprehensive system—one that integrates software, hardware, and intelligent controls into a seamless network. The lunar rover’s architecture emphasizes safety, reliability, and efficient energy use, with an emphasis on remote operation capabilities and autonomous decision-making. The work will explore how energy storage, power management, and thermal considerations interact under lunar conditions, and how these insights can be adapted to improve range, efficiency, and resilience in terrestrial vehicles. The expectation is that lessons learned during the moon mission will travel back to Nissan’s development programs, informing the design of future models and enhancing autonomous features that are already in the pipeline. The end goal is a smoother transition from space-grade prototypes to production-ready systems for cars that people drive every day, from city streets to highways, in North America and beyond.
Photo, video: Nissan and partners