Company attributes
Other attributes
Planetary Transportation Sytems GmbH, formerly known as PTScientists and Part-Time Scientists, was founded by Robert Boehme in 2009. The company was formed as a project for the Google Lunar X-Prize competition as the first German team entering the competition on June 24, 2009, with its "ALINA" lunar lander. Planetary Transportation Systems GmbH did not make it to the competition finals in 2017 due to a lack of securing a launch contract.
ALINA is a lunar lander developed by Planetary Transportation Systems with a launch weight of 2,760lbs and a landing mass of 710lbs. The lander has a cluster of eight engines, each engine generating 200 newtons. Additionally, ALINA has eight altitude control thrusters that have an output of 10 newtons each. ALINA was developed to transport three types of payloads, including rovers, stationary and orbital, and CubeSats.
ALINA lander by Planetary Transportation Systems GmbH
The ALINA lander mission is aimed to land 1.9-3.1 miles from NASA's Apollo 17 landing site in the Taurus-Littrow valley on the lunar surface to locate and film the Lunar Roving Vehicle left by NASA in 1972 during the Apollo 17 mission. Planetary Transportation Systems scientists noted they would film and observe this rover and all other NASA and Soviet landers and rovers from a distance to preserve "world heritage" in support of For All Moonkind Inc.
ALQ rovers developed by Audi and Planetary Transportation Systems
Planetary Transportation Systems developed a partnership with Audi, the automobile manufacturer, to engineer the Audi Lunar Quattro (ALQ) rovers. The prototype rover is called the Asimov Jr. R3, and the flight rovers are called the Audi Lunar Quattros (ALQ). The AQL rovers feature four-wheel drive transmissions, 360 wheel-turning/ pivot capabilities for special maneuvers, and solar panels tilting towards the sun for power generation.
The AQL rovers are projected to have a maximum speed of 2.2mph and carry two cameras mounted to the vehicle's head to capture 3D images. The rovers will communicate with the ALINA lander through technology based on Infineon chips, Nokia, and Vodaphone 4G LTE, allowing the ALINA lander to communicate with Earth Control using the European Space Operations Centre.
