--- title: "Lockheed Martin’s Giant Moon Lander Is an Absolute Unit" description: "Lockheed Martin is proposing to send a four-crew lunar lander from the Lunar Gateway to the surface of the moon. And it weighs a ton." date: "2018-10-04" modified: "2018-10-04" authors: - name: "Victor Tangermann" job_title: "Senior Editor" link: "https://futurism.com/authors/victor" url: "https://futurism.com/the-byte/lockheed-martin-moon-lander" categories: - "Astronomy" - "Moon" - "Space" tags: - "Apollo" - "lockheed martin" - "lunar lander" - "moon" - "moon lander" - "NASA" - "the digest" --- # Lockheed Martin’s Giant Moon Lander Is an Absolute Unit ![Lockheed Martin is proposing to send a four-crew lunar lander from the Lunar Gateway to the surface of the moon. And it weighs a ton.]() *\Image: Lockheed Martin\* ## XXL LANDER The Apollo Lunar Module weighed [less than]() 11,000 pounds and was just 22 feet tall, even with its legs extended. And that’s after years of space- and weight-saving considerations. Almost 50 years later, landers are getting bigger, not smaller (the way so many of our devices do). Bigger landers mean more room for astronauts, more fuel, and longer trips. Take Lockheed Martin's newest design. The aerospace corporation, which is [already working]() on NASA's Orion spacecraft, just proposed a [towering lunar lander]() that’s twice the height of the Apollo module and weighs more than four times as much. The lander, should it ever be sent to the lunar surface, would be an impressive piece of engineering that could also help us envision what kind of craft we would need to send humans to Mars. ## LUNAR LAYOVER Lockheed’s lander would carry four astronauts to the moon, and keep them there for a two week mission. It estimates that the four engines could last for five to ten flights. It gets better: the proposal includes plans for a freakin’ “lift elevator platform to get the crew down from the cabin to the surface," according to Lockheed Martin principal space exploration architect Tim Cichan in an [interview with *Ars Technica*](). ## TOO MOON When exactly the lander will materialize or launch is still up in the air. NASA will only start deciding on how it plans to send humans to the moon in 2024, according to [recent documents](). For now, Lockheed Martin’s plans are just renders. But it’s an exciting look at what future lunar (or Martian) landings could look like. **READ MORE:** [Lockheed Martin proposes a mega-lunar lander: 62 tons and an elevator]() \[*Ars Technica*\] **More on NASA’s plans to land on the moon: [NASA Wants Its Deep Space Gateway Habitat To Orbit The Moon By 2024]()** ## Author I've been at Futurism since 2017, where my role has evolved to encompass design, writing, and increasingly editing. I've always been fascinated by space exploration and advanced transportation, which I've leaned into by interviewing luminaries in those fields while closely following the dimensions of policy and regulation that allow next-generation projects to succeed -- or, sometimes, to fail. I'm also keenly interested in the effects of generative AI on society, policies, and democratic institutions, as well as clean energy, physics and biology, and the vagaries of tech leadership. My work for Futurism has been cited by publications including Ars Technica, Gizmodo, PC Magazine, Jalopnik, Fox News, and the New York Post. I spent my childhood living in locations including Manila, the Philippines, and Geneva, Switzerland, attended McGill University, and now live in Toronto, Canada. Before Futurism I worked at AskMen and a small photography studio. In my free time, I'm an avid gardener, foodie, and craft beer lover, as well as a maker of artisanal hot pepper sauces. I have a magnificent dog named Freida. ### Author social links [Bluesky]()