The Ultimate Tire Design for Lunar Rovers

According to Motor1, Bridgestone has unveiled several concept tires for vehicles operating on the Moon. Simply named the second-generation lunar rover tires, these concepts are made entirely of steel, as rubber cannot withstand the harsh conditions of space.

Rubber is highly susceptible to extreme temperatures and ultraviolet radiation, both prevalent on the Moon. Even if rubber doesn’t fail, using this material would make the tires heavy and inflexible. Pneumatic tires, filled with air, are also not ideal for operating in a vacuum.

Bridgestone’s solution is to create a metal tire with external spikes and flexible support structures, essentially serving as a wheel rim. One of the two concepts targets small, lightweight rovers and thus has fewer “spokes.” The other concept caters to mid-size rovers, enabling them to navigate more rugged terrain.

Bridgestone asserts that these concepts achieve a balance between weight, durability, and maneuverability.

These designs are similar to Bridgestone’s second-generation lunar tires introduced in 2024, which also featured flexible internal structures but used a steel mesh for the “tread,” arranged in rectangular plates.

All of these designs are also drastically different from the first-generation lunar tire concept that Bridgestone unveiled a few years ago. That prototype had a spring-closed coil structure resembling a tire, accompanied by an inner rim.

Bridgestone will display these lunar rover tire concepts at the Space Symposium in Colorado Springs from April 7th onward.