Lunar Outpost, the leader in planetary mobility and space resource utilisation, announced MARS-1, a mission to evaluate the performance of its Mobile Autonomous Robotic Swarms (MARS). Lunar Outpost developed MARS for the U.S. Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL) and U.S. Space Force SpaceWERX. The mission will conduct decentralised, cross-domain swarm operations in low Earth orbit, demonstrating the ability to command robotic workforces that will establish infrastructure in space.

"The new space race hinges on our ability to build and persist in outer space. Constructing the critical infrastructure to support the next phase of the space economy requires the large-scale deployment and management of heterogeneous autonomous systems," said Justin Cyrus, CEO of Lunar Outpost. "MARS-1 is a strategic step forward, proving that we can empower robotics to work together autonomously in extreme environments."

Building habitats, research sites, and other critical infrastructure in space requires new levels of robotic collaboration. MARS provides the decentralised framework necessary for autonomous systems to work together as a unified workforce. This enables robotics to communicate seamlessly and achieve mission objectives in a coordinated manner, without requiring constant human oversight.

MARS-1 will consist of two small spacecraft, each running Lunar Outpost’s MARS software and operating in tandem to demonstrate MARS capabilities. Designed for decentralised coordination across heterogeneous assets, MARS enables autonomous systems to work together as a single, resilient unit, even if communication with mission control is interrupted. The mission will test early cross-domain mesh networking and experimental positioning, navigation, and timing (PNT) capabilities. MARS-1 payloads will be onboard Exotrail’s spacevan orbital transfer vehicle on their "Wings of Light" mission. It is planned for launch in early 2026 on SpaceX’s Transporter-16 rideshare.

The mission builds on Lunar Outpost’s mission pipeline, which includes seven contracted lunar and cislunar missions. The company is also building the Eagle Lunar Terrain Vehicle (LTV) to support NASA’s Artemis campaign, a series of planned missions with the ultimate goal of establishing a permanent base on the Moon.

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