Prospective Developments in Planetary Rovers for Future Exploration Missions

doi:10.3981/j.issn.2097-0781.2025.02.012

Science and Technology Foresight ›› 2025, Vol. 4 ›› Issue (2): 158-173.DOI: 10.3981/j.issn.2097-0781.2025.02.012

• Review and Commentary • Previous Articles

Prospective Developments in Planetary Rovers for Future Exploration Missions

GAO Haibo¹^,²^,^†(), LIU Zhen¹^,²^,^†(), YUAN Runze¹^,²

1. School of Mechatronics Engineering, Harbin Institute of Technology, Harbin 150001, China
2. State Key Laboratory of Robotics and Systems, Harbin 150001, China

Received:2024-12-08 Revised:2025-03-25 Online:2025-06-20 Published:2025-06-26
Contact: †

面向未来星表任务的星球车展望

高海波¹^,²^,^†(), 刘振¹^,²^,^†(), 袁润泽¹^,²

1.哈尔滨工业大学机电工程学院，哈尔滨 150001
2.机器人技术与系统全国重点实验室，哈尔滨 150001

通讯作者: †
作者简介:高海波，教授，博士研究生导师。哈尔滨工业大学校长助理，机电工程学院院长，机器人技术与系统全国重点实验室副主任。主要从事轮式星球车移动技术、重载足式机器人技术方向的研究。主持国家重点研发计划、国家自然科学基金、国家重大科技专项、科技部国际合作等项目。获国家技术发明奖二等奖2项、省部级一等奖7项、中国专利银奖1项。出版专著3部，发表论文110余篇，授权发明专利50余件。电子信箱：gaohaibo@hit.edu.cn。
刘振，教授，博士研究生导师。国家高层次青年人才。主要从事星球车移动系统、宇航空间机构的微低重力模拟方向的研究。主持或承担自然科学基金、载人航天预先研究、深空探测和载人航天重大专项课题30余项。获国家技术发明奖二等奖1项、中国专利银奖1项、省部级一等奖2项、好设计金奖1项。电子信箱：liuzhen_hit@163.com。
基金资助:
国家自然科学基金(T2388101);国家自然科学基金(U23A20614)

Abstract

Abstract:

Planetary rovers, as the core equipment in deep space exploration missions, undertake important tasks. Since the 1970s, planetary rovers have played important roles in exploring the Moon, Mars, and other celestial bodies. In the 21st century, their development has entered a brand-new stage encompassing manned exploration and scientific research station construction, with mission scopes further expanding to efficient heavy-load transportation and complex operations. This paper reviews the development history of planetary rovers, analyzes the technical status quo and research progress in unmanned exploration, manned exploration, and future research stations on the planetary surface, and proposes the technical challenges posed by planetary rovers under extreme environments and complex terrains. Finally, this paper proposes key breakthrough technologies for the development of planetary rovers and provides suggestions for future development, aiming to provide powerful technical support for the construction of China’s future research station on planetary surface and manned lunar missions.

Key words: planet rover, planetary exploration, surface research station, mobile technology, autonomous intelligence, ground-based simulation experiment

摘要：

星球车作为深空探测任务中的核心装备，承担着重要的任务。自20世纪70年代以来，星球车已在月球、火星等天体的探测中发挥了重要作用。进入21世纪，星球车的发展逐步进入了载人探测及科研站建设的全新阶段，其任务范围进一步扩展至高效重载运输及复杂作业。文章回顾了星球车的发展历程，分析了无人探测、载人探测以及未来星表科研站阶段的技术现状与研究进展，提出了星球车在面临极端环境、复杂地形等条件下的技术难题；展望了星球车发展所亟需突破的主要关键技术并给出了未来的发展建议，以期为中国未来星表科研站的建设和载人登月等任务提供有力的技术支持。

关键词: 星球车, 行星探测, 星表科研站, 移动技术, 自主智能技术, 地面模拟试验

GAO Haibo, LIU Zhen, YUAN Runze. Prospective Developments in Planetary Rovers for Future Exploration Missions[J]. Science and Technology Foresight, 2025, 4(2): 158-173.

高海波, 刘振, 袁润泽. 面向未来星表任务的星球车展望[J]. 前瞻科技, 2025, 4(2): 158-173.

Figures/Tables 10

References 29

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技术特点/关键指标	美国“毅力号”	中国“祝融号”
行驶速度/(km·h^-1)	0.2	0.2
星球车总载荷/kg	1 050	240
移动模式	轮式移动	轮式移动、蠕动行进
脱陷能力	遥控脱陷	自主蠕动脱陷
动力系统	核动力供电	太阳能板供电
主要功能	火表移动探测、机械臂采集	火表移动探测、无样本采集功能
优势与不足	载荷大、任务能力强，仅轮式移动，火表适应性不足且成本较高	有主动悬架和蠕行功能，高通过性，供电受火表尘土影响，无采样功能

技术特点/关键指标	美国“毅力号”	中国“祝融号”
行驶速度/(km·h^-1)	0.2	0.2
星球车总载荷/kg	1 050	240
移动模式	轮式移动	轮式移动、蠕动行进
脱陷能力	遥控脱陷	自主蠕动脱陷
动力系统	核动力供电	太阳能板供电
主要功能	火表移动探测、机械臂采集	火表移动探测、无样本采集功能
优势与不足	载荷大、任务能力强，仅轮式移动，火表适应性不足且成本较高	有主动悬架和蠕行功能，高通过性，供电受火表尘土影响，无采样功能

技术特点/关键指标	美国“LRV”	中国载人月球车
行驶速度/(km·h^-1)	8	10
星球车总载荷/kg	700	700
驱动及转向模式	四轮独立驱动、前后阿克曼转向	四轮独立驱动、独立转向且具有底盘智能协同控制技术
驾驶模式	手动驾驶	手动驾驶、自主驾驶和人机混合驾驶
宇航员乘坐数量	2	2
主要功能	载人移动探测	载人移动探测
优势与不足	成功完成“阿波罗计划”任务，方案成熟，但机动性和智能化有限，车辆驾驶模式单一	速度、机动性和智能化方面均有提升，但技术可靠性需通过实际任务验证

技术特点/关键指标	美国“LRV”	中国载人月球车
行驶速度/(km·h^-1)	8	10
星球车总载荷/kg	700	700
驱动及转向模式	四轮独立驱动、前后阿克曼转向	四轮独立驱动、独立转向且具有底盘智能协同控制技术
驾驶模式	手动驾驶	手动驾驶、自主驾驶和人机混合驾驶
宇航员乘坐数量	2	2
主要功能	载人移动探测	载人移动探测
优势与不足	成功完成“阿波罗计划”任务，方案成熟，但机动性和智能化有限，车辆驾驶模式单一	速度、机动性和智能化方面均有提升，但技术可靠性需通过实际任务验证

技术特点/关键指标	美国“Chariot”	中国增压式月面移动系统
行驶速度/(km·h^-1)	13	15
星球车总载荷/kg	4 000	不小于6 000
运行模式	宇航员操作	宇航员操作、无人化自主运行
主要功能	航天员短期驻留、星表作业	航天员短期及中长期驻留、星表运载作业、星表原位资源利用
优势与不足	完成多款原理样机研制，实验和测试较全面，运行模式依赖人工操作，任务执行自主性较低	载荷更大，能够支撑宇航员驻留时间更长，运行模式更为多样，任务拓展性更强

Prospective Developments in Planetary Rovers for Future Exploration Missions

面向未来星表任务的星球车展望

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星球车发展阶段	功能	平均速度/ （km‧h^-1）	载荷/kg
无人探测阶段	无人移动探测	0.2~0.3	10~1 000
载人探测阶段	载人移动探测	8~10	700~1 500
科研站建设阶段	星表运载作业	13~15	3 000~6 000