Canoo Transporting NASA Astronauts, Too

Canoo must be doing something right — it has done a great job landing notable US government contracts, which is never easy to do. We reported on the U.S. Department of Defense (DOD) ordering Canoo electric vehicles back in December and February. A few days ago, I wrote that the partnership with the DOD was already expanding. Now we also have news that Canoo has landed a contract with NASA.

Canoo recently delivered three Crew Transportation Vehicles (CTVs) to NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. “These vehicles will transport the astronauts to the launch pad for the Artemis lunar missions,” the company writes.

How cool do they look?

“We are thrilled to be a part of the Artemis missions and to deliver NASA’s first zero-emission built for mission crew transportation vehicles,” says Tony Aquila, Chairman and CEO, Canoo. “It’s a very proud day for Canoo and all of our partners who worked so hard to ensure we perform our part to transport the astronauts for the first nine miles of every launch.”

Now, let’s be honest — this is not the most rigorous transportation service requirement. The Canoo EVs don’t need to drive on the moon or across a desert. They are transporting astronauts 9 miles. (Now that I think about it, I’m curious what they do the rest of the time.) It’s more of a stupendous marketing opportunity than anything else (which again makes me wonder what connections the Canoo leadership team has). However, it does come with some specialized needs and circumstances.

“The CTVs are engineered to carry fully suited astronauts, flight support crew, and equipment to the launch pad,” the company writes. “The vehicles have an exclusive interior and exterior design that will provide astronaut and crew comfort and safety while on the nine-mile journey to the launch pad at Kennedy Space Center.” The images above are just computer-generated visualizations. Canoo will provide actual interior and exterior images of the CTVs later this year.

What is Artemis II, by the way? Good question — for those of us who don’t follow space news closely, that’s probably a bit of a mystery. Here’s the answer, via Canoo: “The Artemis II is the first crewed mission that is part of NASA’s plan to establish a long-term presence at the Moon for science and exploration. The 10-day flight will test NASA’s foundational human deep space exploration capabilities, the Space Launch System rocket and Orion spacecraft, for the first time with astronauts.”

Naturally, as cool as it is that Canoo EVs will transport NASA astronauts 9 miles to the Kennedy Space Center, it’s likely they will remember their next vehicle much better. The spaceship they will ride in will need to travel more than 240,000 miles to the moon.