NASA is quietly laying the groundwork for a new generation of robots that will not just survive on Mars, but move, scout and deliver science in ways today’s rovers cannot. The Science Transport & Robotic Innovation for Deployment and Exploration program, better known as STRIDE, is emerging as a key test bed for that future mobility. By targeting advanced transport systems and novel robotic concepts, it is meant to bridge the gap between today’s wheeled explorers and the agile, service‑oriented machines that will support human crews on the Red Planet.
Instead of treating mobility as an afterthought, STRIDE puts it at the center of mission design, asking industry to rethink how instruments, samples and even infrastructure are moved across hostile terrain. That shift aligns with NASA’s broader push to prepare for Future Mars missions in the 2030s, where robotic systems will have to operate as partners rather than distant proxies.
STRIDE’s origins inside NASA’s Mars playbook
The STRIDE concept did not appear in a vacuum. For more than a decade, NASA has framed Mars as the next major destination for human exploration, setting a course to send astronauts to an asteroid by 2025 and to Mars in the 2030s as part of its long‑term roadmap for deep space. In that context, Future Mars missions are not just about planting flags, but about building a sustainable presence that can investigate fundamental mysteries of the cosmos while keeping crews alive and productive.
That ambition has forced NASA to confront a simple reality: human explorers will depend on robotic systems that can pre‑deploy infrastructure, scout landing zones and ferry equipment across rugged landscapes. The agency’s own planning documents describe how NASA is developing the capabilities needed to send humans to an asteroid by 2025 and Mars in the 2030s, and that Future Mars exploration will rely on a mix of human and robotic assets. STRIDE slots into that architecture as a focused effort to make those robotic assets far more capable in how they move and deliver science.
From Special Notice to strategy: how STRIDE is being framed
The formal launch of STRIDE inside NASA’s bureaucracy came through a Special Notice issued by NASA Headquarters, a procedural step that signals the agency’s intent to seek ideas from outside partners. In Dec, NASA Headquarters released Special Notice NNH25ZDA001N‑STRIDE, spelling out that the effort would focus on Science Transport and Robotic Innovation for deployment and exploration. That notice effectively put industry and research institutions on alert that NASA was ready to invest in new mobility concepts, not just incremental upgrades to existing rover designs.
Buried in the procurement language is a clear statement of purpose: STRIDE is meant to advance the way science is moved, deployed and supported on other worlds. The Special Notice explains that NASA Headquarters issued Special Notice NNH25ZDA001N‑STRIDE for Science Transport & Robotic Innovation for deployment and exploration, with responses due in early March 2026. That timeline underscores how quickly NASA wants to move from concept to concrete design studies that can feed into its next wave of Mars and planetary missions.
What STRIDE actually asks industry to build
At the heart of STRIDE is a call for design studies of advanced robotic systems that can transform how science is conducted on planetary surfaces. The STRIDE program is described as a solicitation to U.S. industry for detailed concepts that rethink mobility, deployment and transport, rather than simply bolting new instruments onto familiar rover chassis. That means NASA is looking for ideas that could range from modular cargo haulers and autonomous scouts to systems that can deploy sensor networks or support sample return logistics.
In its own Description of the program, NASA’s Science Mission Directorate makes clear that The STRIDE initiative will solicit proposals from U.S. industry to conduct design studies of advanced robotic systems for Science Transport and Robotic Innovation for Deployment and Exploration. That framing, outlined in an advance notice of intent, signals that NASA is less interested in one‑off gadgets and more focused on families of systems that can be adapted across missions, including those aimed at Mars.
Multiple awards and a diversified mobility portfolio
NASA’s decision to structure STRIDE around multiple awards is a quiet but important signal about how it views the future of robotic mobility. Instead of betting on a single flagship concept, the agency anticipates selecting several winners, each exploring different approaches to transport and deployment. That diversification is a hedge against technical risk, but it is also a recognition that Mars and other destinations will likely require a mix of platforms, from heavy haulers to nimble scouts.
Procurement language tied to STRIDE notes that, based on the fact that NASA anticipates selecting multiple awards, the program aims to develop advanced robotic systems through a competitive process. One summary of the opportunity explains that, in Dec, NASA indicated that, However, based on the fact that NASA anticipates selecting multiple awards, the program aims to develop advanced robotic systems through U.S. industry under the direction of U.S. NASA Headquarters. That detail, captured in a bid overview, suggests STRIDE is being used to seed a portfolio of mobility options that can be matched to different mission profiles rather than a single, monolithic rover line.
How STRIDE fits NASA’s long‑term robotic Mars strategy
STRIDE is arriving just as NASA is rethinking how it buys and operates robotic missions to Mars. In its long‑term strategy for robotic Mars exploration, the agency has acknowledged that a simple fee‑for‑service model, where NASA pays only when services are delivered, is probably not a totally workable approach for the kind of complex, high‑risk missions Mars science demands. Instead, planners have argued for a more nuanced mix of partnerships, with NASA sharing development risk while still shaping the capabilities it needs.
That strategic pivot is directly relevant to STRIDE, which is structured as a design‑study program rather than a pure services contract. By funding early‑stage concepts, NASA can steer industry toward mobility systems that align with its science and exploration goals, while still leveraging commercial innovation. The agency’s own long‑range planning documents for Mars note that a simple fee‑for‑service model is probably not a totally workable approach for the level of support Mars science needs, which is precisely the gap STRIDE is designed to fill by shaping the next generation of robotic mobility before it is locked into fixed service contracts.
Why mobility is the bottleneck for Future Mars science
For all the spectacular images and discoveries delivered by past rovers, mobility has remained a stubborn bottleneck on Mars. Wheeled platforms like Curiosity and Perseverance can only traverse limited distances each day, must avoid steep slopes and loose sand, and cannot easily reposition heavy infrastructure once it is deployed. As NASA looks ahead to Future Mars missions that will support human crews, those constraints become even more severe, because crews will depend on pre‑positioned supplies, power systems and habitats that may need to be moved or serviced over time.
STRIDE’s focus on Science Transport is a direct response to that challenge. By treating transport as a primary mission objective, rather than a secondary capability, the program encourages designs that can carry larger payloads, operate in more varied terrain and work in concert with other systems. That could mean robotic “mules” that shuttle cargo between a landing site and a habitat, or autonomous platforms that deploy and maintain sensor networks across a wide area. In each case, the goal is to unlock more ambitious science and exploration by removing mobility as the limiting factor.
From design studies to hardware on the Martian ground
Design studies are only the first step, but they are a critical one. By funding detailed concepts through STRIDE, NASA can identify which mobility architectures are most promising for Mars and other destinations, then feed those findings into future mission calls. The agency’s standard pattern is to use such studies to refine requirements, understand cost and risk, and decide which technologies merit full development. For Mars, that could translate into new classes of robotic vehicles that are explicitly designed to work alongside human crews, rather than as stand‑alone science missions.
The timeline embedded in the STRIDE Special Notice, with responses due in early March 2026, suggests NASA wants those insights in hand as it finalizes the next wave of Mars and planetary mission concepts. If the program succeeds, the designs that emerge from STRIDE could inform everything from cargo landers and surface logistics to sample transport systems that bridge the gap between robotic collection and human analysis. In that sense, STRIDE is less a one‑off program than a feeder pipeline for the mobility infrastructure that Future Mars exploration will require.
What success would look like for STRIDE on Mars
Measuring the success of a design‑study program is always tricky, but for STRIDE the metrics are relatively clear. In the near term, success would mean a diverse set of credible concepts that expand NASA’s options for how to move science and infrastructure on Mars. Those concepts would need to demonstrate not just technical feasibility, but also how they integrate with existing mission architectures, from launch vehicles and entry systems to surface power and communications.
Over the longer term, the real test will be whether STRIDE‑inspired systems actually fly and operate on Mars, changing how missions are planned and executed. If, a decade from now, human crews on the Red Planet are relying on fleets of robotic haulers, scouts and deployment platforms that trace their lineage back to STRIDE design studies, the program will have achieved its purpose. It will have turned a bureaucratic Special Notice into tangible, next‑generation mobility that makes Mars a more accessible, scientifically rich and ultimately habitable world for human explorers.
More from MorningOverview