# Justin Cyrus

> Justin Cyrus is the Denver-area founder and CEO of Lunar Outpost, the Colorado space robotics company he co-founded in 2017 after engineering work at Lockheed Martin. Raised near Johnson Space Center and given LunarOutpost.com at age five, he turned a childhood fixation into machines for Earth, Mars, and the Moon. His company’s MAPP rover reached the lunar south polar region in March 2025 but could not deploy after its lander came to rest on its side; in 2026 Lunar Outpost answered with a $30 million Series B and a NASA selection to deliver its crew-capable Pegasus rover for Artemis.

- **Role:** Founder and Chief Executive Officer at Lunar Outpost
- **Organizations:** Lunar Outpost, Lockheed Martin, Colorado School of Mines, University of Colorado Boulder
- **Nationality:** American
- **Education:** B.S., Electrical and Computer Engineering, University of Colorado Boulder, M.S., Electrical Engineering, Colorado School of Mines, M.S., Space Resources, Colorado School of Mines
- **Known for:** Founded Lunar Outpost and led it from a bootstrapped 2017 startup to contracted lunar mobility programs., Led development of the MAPP rover, which reached the lunar south polar region in 2025 and achieved flight heritage for key subsystems., Accepted NASA’s first milestone payment associated with a commercial space-resource collection contract.

## Career timeline

- **College years** — Interned at Lockheed Martin beginning in his sophomore year at the University of Colorado Boulder.
- **Before 2017** — Worked at Lockheed Martin on satellite programs, primarily for military and defense applications.
- **2017** — Co-founded Lunar Outpost with Julian Cyrus, AJ Gemer and Forrest Meyen; the company began bootstrapped and focused on space robotics.
- **2018** — Publicly introduced a commercial lunar resource prospector capable of navigation, mapping and prospecting.
- **2021** — Accepted NASA’s first 10-cent milestone payment connected to a contract for the collection and transfer of lunar resources; Lunar Outpost technology also supported the MOXIE oxygen-production effort on Mars.
- **2024** — Led Lunar Outpost as NASA selected the company for initial Lunar Terrain Vehicle Services work alongside two competitors.
- **2025** — Lunar Voyage 1 reached the Moon. MAPP survived and returned data, but could not deploy because the Athena lander came to rest on its side with the rover garage trapped underneath.
- **2026** — Lunar Outpost raised a $30 million Series B and NASA selected its Pegasus vehicle as one of two providers for a lunar terrain vehicle task order.

## Achievements

- Founded Lunar Outpost and led it from a bootstrapped 2017 startup to contracted lunar mobility programs.
- Led development of the MAPP rover, which reached the lunar south polar region in 2025 and achieved flight heritage for key subsystems.
- Accepted NASA’s first milestone payment associated with a commercial space-resource collection contract.
- Helped lead technology contributions associated with MOXIE, which produced oxygen on Mars.
- Secured NASA selections for Lunar Terrain Vehicle development, culminating in the 2026 Pegasus task order.
- Closed a $30 million Series B in May 2026 to scale robotic mobility and infrastructure systems.
- Co-designed the Lunar Outpost rover featured in a LEGO Technic set, according to his personal site.

## Latest updates

- **2026-09** — Lunar Outpost added retired U.S. Space Force Lt. Gen. John Shaw to its board; Cyrus said Shaw’s operational perspective would help the company scale national space objectives.
- **2026-09** — Cyrus authored a World Economic Forum article arguing that commercial lunar mobility links exploration, infrastructure and economic activity.
- **2026-07** — Lunar Outpost announced work with NVIDIA to use edge AI computing across future lunar missions.
- **2026-06** — The World Economic Forum named Lunar Outpost to its 2026 Technology Pioneers cohort.
- **2026-05** — NASA selected Lunar Outpost’s Pegasus rover for a high-achievability Lunar Terrain Vehicle mission task order, and the company announced a $30 million Series B.

## Links

- Website: https://www.justincyrus.com/
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/justin-cyrus
- Twitter/X: https://x.com/StarlordCyrus

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Profile page: https://yespress.io/justin-cyrus
Published by YesPress — https://yespress.io
Last updated: 2026-09-28