Hyundai Motor Group begins testing lunar rover for extreme conditions, autonomous navigation

Rover thermal control, autonomous driving engineers recruited

Step-by-step tests from launch through post-landing operations

Camera and inertial sensors guide rover without maps

Nvidia virtual environment to validate tech by 2027

A concept image of Hyundai Motor Group's dedicated lunar exploration rover on the moon. [Hyundai Motor Group]

Hyundai Motor Group has begun validating the technology needed to extend its business beyond Earth and into space. The automaker is testing whether its dedicated lunar exploration robot — a rover — can withstand the extreme environment of space, while also accelerating development of autonomous driving software that would allow the vehicle to operate on the moon without human intervention after landing.

Hyundai Motor Group earlier announced a plan to invest 42 trillion won ($31.4 billion) in the Yeongnam region over 10 years, pledging to localize core space-industry technologies. By testing its lunar rover and space autonomous driving technology against actual space conditions, the group aims to secure launch-ready technology by 2027.

Rover must endure vacuum and 300-degree temperature swings — thermal vacuum tests ahead

Hyundai Motor has launched a recruitment drive to hire engineers for lunar exploration roles, including specialists in mobility thermal control systems and autonomous driving software, according to industry sources Friday.

Thermal control system engineers will design the rover's thermal management architecture and conduct thermal analysis at each stage of the vehicle's life cycle — launch, transit, lunar orbit, landing and surface operations. They will also design thermal vacuum test profiles tailored to the rover's mission scenarios and develop the fixtures, heaters and sensors needed for those tests.

Thermal vacuum testing is an essential process to verify that the lunar rover can survive the moon's extreme surface environment, where the temperature difference between day and night exceeds 300 degrees Celsius. The tests recreate vacuum conditions and extreme temperatures inside specialized equipment that simulates the space environment, confirming the stability and reliability of the hardware. Hyundai Motor plans to conduct the tests at both the component level and on the rover as a complete unit.

"The moon is a vacuum with no atmosphere, and temperatures vary dramatically depending on the time of day and location — conditions that are clearly different from Earth's operating environment," said Ahn Jae-myung, a professor in the Department of Aerospace Engineering at KAIST. "All space systems, including rovers, must undergo thermal vacuum testing, and satellites launched into space must pass it before they can proceed to the launch process."

Exterior view of the Hyundai Motor and Kia headquarters in Yangjae. [Hyundai Motor Group]

No GPS, low light on the moon — the rover will build its own maps

Hyundai Motor Group is also developing custom autonomous driving technology for the rover to operate on the lunar surface, where GPS is unavailable and no pre-existing maps exist. The moon presents a particularly challenging environment for terrain recognition — low ambient light, heavy dust and sharp contrasts between light and shadow. The group plans to design perception algorithms capable of operating reliably under those conditions.

The rover will first use camera imagery to identify surrounding terrain, obstacles and landmarks. A calibration process will align the lens characteristics and mounting positions of multiple cameras so they can accurately interpret the same scene. The group is also applying deep learning-based object recognition and exploring ways to make the models more lightweight.

In addition, the group is designing an initialization algorithm that, in the early post-landing phase when no map exists, simultaneously determines the rover's position from camera imagery and builds a map from scratch. Using visual simultaneous localization and mapping — known as VSLAM — the rover will construct a three-dimensional map of the lunar surface as it moves. A loop-closure function, which allows the rover to recognize places it has already visited, will correct accumulated positioning errors. Visual-inertial odometry technology combining cameras with an inertial measurement unit is also being developed.

Validation will take place in a virtual environment. Hyundai Motor Group will use Nvidia's robot simulator Isaac Sim and OmniLRS, an open-source lunar environment simulator built on top of it. Algorithms will be iteratively tested and refined using simulation data that replicates lunar terrain, lighting and dust conditions. Perception and localization technologies will be integrated with path-planning algorithms that determine the rover's route and validated together. Automated test scenarios to assess performance and accuracy are also being designed.

Because the space environment is not easily accessible to humans, autonomous operation is essential. Hyundai Motor Group plans to apply and further develop the autonomous driving and AI technologies it has accumulated through automobile and robot development for use in the lunar rover.

First steps in 2022 — group targets 'launch-ready technology by 2027'

Kim Heung-su (front row, from left), executive vice president and head of Hyundai Motor Group's GSO division, and Terada Miki, head of the composite materials business division at Toray Group, pose for a photo after signing a strategic joint development agreement in October last year. [Hyundai Motor Group]

Hyundai Motor Group began developing lunar exploration mobility in 2022, signing joint research agreements with six government-funded research institutes including the Korea Astronomy and Space Science Institute and the Korea Aerospace Research Institute. In 2023, the group formally announced development of a lunar rover model weighing up to 70 kilograms. The rover is designed to land near the moon's south pole and carry out scientific missions including mineral collection and environmental analysis.

"We are targeting the acquisition of technology at a level ready for launch by 2027," the group said. When development was formally announced in 2023, the group had stated it would deliver a product capable of actual lunar surface exploration by 2027 — a goal it has since restated more conservatively as securing launch-ready technology.

Competition among global automakers to reach the moon is also intensifying. General Motors is participating in NASA's lunar terrain vehicle development program. Toyota has been jointly developing a crewed lunar rover called the Lunar Cruiser with the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency since 2019, targeting a launch after 2031. SpaceX, led by Tesla CEO Elon Musk, said in February that it would prioritize building a "self-sustaining city" on the moon over Mars.

Hyundai Motor Group has continued laying the groundwork to secure the necessary technology. In October last year, it signed a joint development agreement with Japan's Toray Group to co-develop carbon fiber composite materials for future mobility applications including the lunar rover. The group's 10-year, 42 trillion won investment plan for the Yeongnam region, announced in July, also includes development of a lunar rover incorporating autonomous driving and AI technologies built up through automobile and robot development.

"We will expand our business into future aviation and space mobility — from urban air mobility to space launch vehicles and lunar exploration," a Hyundai Motor Group official said.

eyre@heraldcorp.com