Astrolab to Deploy Moon Rover FLIP with HPE Supercomputer for Artemis

Astrolab, one of two firms chosen by NASA for lunar rover development, is preparing the FLIP rover for a mission to the Moon’s South Pole as part of the Griffin-1 flight. The vehicle will carry Hewlett Packard Enterprise's Spaceborne Computer-4, a compact, low-power supercomputer featuring a 64-bit CPU, GPU, and fan-less cooling, integrated with the rover’s thermal system. Power will come from onboard batteries supplemented by solar arrays, and data will be stored on KIOXIA SSDs.

The mission will assess the computer’s ability to function in harsh temperature swings, extended darkness, and limited human oversight, using AI for navigation, mapping, and terrain analysis with software from NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory. Success could enable more autonomous lunar operations and support future crewed missions.