NASA Awards Contracts for Mars Advanced Surface Mobility Technology

July 8, 2026

C.13

NASA Awards Contracts for Mars Advanced Surface Mobility Technology

NASA has selected seven companies for contract awards under the Mars Exploration Program’s Science Transport and Robotic Innovation for Deployment and Exploration, or STRIDE, initiative to advance next-generation commercial robotic surface mobility for future Mars exploration.

The STRIDE awards will support the development of innovative robotic mobility systems that may enable future Mars missions to access more challenging terrain, travel greater distances, and investigate scientifically valuable regions that are difficult to reach with current mobility systems.

The STRIDE awards have a total potential value of approximately $17 million with a period of work targeted to begin in Fall of 2026.

Contract awardees are:

• AeroVironment, Arlington, Virginia
• Astrobotic, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
• Venturi Astrolab (Astrolab), Hawthorne, California
• Ground Control Robotics, Atlanta, Georgia
• Honeybee Robotics, Longmont, Colorado
• Intuitive Machines, Houston, Texas
• MEI Technologies, Webster, Texas

STRIDE demonstrates NASA’s commitment to strong public-private partnerships, allowing the agency to explore new approaches for Mars surface exploration while identifying key capability gaps and development needs for commercial systems that could operate and traverse realistic Martian environments.

For more information about NASA’s Mars Exploration, visit:

https://science.nasa.gov/planetary-science/programs/mars-exploration

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Ben

I am the owner of Cerebral-overload.com and the Verizon Wireless Reviewer for Techburgh.com. My love of gadgets came from his lack of a Nintendo Game Boy when he was a child . I vowed from that day on to get his hands on as many tech products as possible. My approach to a review is to make it informative for the technofile while still making it understandable to everyone. Ben is a new voice in the tech industry and is looking to make a mark wherever he goes. When not reviewing products, I is also a 911 Telecommunicator just outside of Pittsburgh PA.

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