YAOKI lunar rover successfully tests integration with Intuitive Machines’ Nova-C lunar lander.

Dymon successfully integration test of YAOKI with Intuitive Machines Nova-C lunar lander. as Dymon’s first lunar mission Project YAOKI 1 (PY-1). IM’s next mission (IM-2) with YAOKI as a payload is scheduled for October-December 2024.

Integration test

The tests, which involved controlling the YAOKI and sending and receiving data through Intuitive Machines hardware and software interfaces, were conducted at Intuitive Machines FlatSat facility in Houston from 4 April to 8 April 2024. Dymon CEO Nakajima and a team of engineers visited the Intuitive Machines site to check various operations of the YAOKI flight model and the deployer (YAOKI transport case).

Dymon’s planned test items were cleared without any problems and one of the important milestones in PY-1 was achieved. Future plans are for final tests to be carried out around June, after which the aircraft will be installed in Nova-C after Intuitive Machines development is completed.

Dymon engineers with Nova-C at IM’s office

Short movie about the test

Project YAOKI (PY-1)

PY-1 is the first lunar mission of the Dymon-developed YAOKI lunar rover, which will transport YAOKI to the Moon and demonstrate technologies for driving on the Moon surface and acquiring image data by remote control from Earth. It also includes the demonstration of various elemental technologies by Project YAOKI technical partners.

It will be launched by SpaceX’s Falcon 9 on board IM’s Nova-C (IM-2). The landing site is near the South Pole of the Moon and is scheduled for October-December 2024.