Design Requirements

Designing a rover for the race on the Moon surface will be a big challenge. The participants are free to choose any design for their rover. However, some requirements are needed to meet launch capability, to organize communication between the rovers and Earth, to ensure safe rover pre-launch handling, and to refrain from polluting the environment of the Moon with harmful material. These requirements are summarized below.

• Total mass of each rover shall be less than 10 kg.
   
• Each rover shall fit into the volume of height 200 mm, length 600 mm, and width 500 mm.
   
• The rovers shall be capable of completing a 5 km level sand track at an average speed of at least 5 km/h.
   
• The rovers shall be able to communicate through the Deep Space Network.
   
• All communications including teleoperation shall use the frequency that is assigned by the LRR authority.
   
• The rovers shall have a back-up communication system for teleoperation and video link independent of its main communication system.
   
• The rovers shall carry at least one camera for live video coverage of the race and the lunar surface. The frame rate and resolution shall be at least 10 Hz and 256´256 pixels.
   
• The rovers shall have space and power available for a navigation package provided by the LRR authority.
   
• The participants shall provide the LRR authority direct access to their positioning data.
   
• The rovers shall have a minimum designed operational life of 14 Earth days.
     
• The rovers may not contain any nuclear material.
  

Rover Test

Those participants who are chosen to run the race on the Moon surface shall perform a series of tests to show that a rover can withstand the harsh environment of the Moon during the race. Participants are free to design their own test protocol on their rover. At least one comprehensive test open to the experts assigned by the Racing Authority, shall be performed. A participant shall carefully record and document the results of tests performed on the rover and shall generate a comprehensive report. The report shall be presented to the Racing Authority. Based on the results of the comprehensive test on a rover and the test report, the qualification for the racing shall be granted.

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