Nvidia is expanding its reach into space by supplying Jetson chips to Lunar Outpost, a robotics startup, for use in the LiDAR system of its next Moon rover. When the mission launches, it is expected to mark the first time a GPU has operated on the lunar surface, part of a broader push by Nvidia to embed its chips in "physical AI" systems that let robots process sensor data and react to their surroundings in real time. The move fits into NASA's wider strategy of paying private companies to scout the Moon ahead of planned crewed missions, tentatively expected around 2028.

The rover will fly aboard a lander built by Intuitive Machines and is designed to explore craters and other terrain difficult to survey from orbit, with a follow-up mission targeting Reiner Gamma, a site with an unexplained magnetic anomaly; both are expected to launch on Falcon 9 rockets before the end of the year. Nvidia has also partnered with Firefly Aerospace to run Jetson chips aboard a lunar-orbiting satellite that will process imagery for mapping and tracking surface robots. Lunar Outpost's engineers are testing Jetson against more established spaceflight computing hardware, weighing its greater processing power against the challenge of operating through extreme radiation and temperature swings, including surviving lunar night on minimal power.