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NASA Awards Contracts for Mars Advanced Surface Mobility TechnologyTimothy Reckart
Jul 08, 2026 ArticleJuly 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