Lupek is the first rover constructed by the KSA engineering department, and has already undergone over half a year of testing for its ultimate destination: Mun. Although Mun is close enough to allow us to steer the rover remotely by kerbal operator, the rover can also serve as a testbed for automated software that would be needed on further bodies like Duna or Eve. It has in the past performed several automated drives in excess of 150km in the grasslands, highlands and desert west of KSC (see Inactive Vessels for previous roves). A long-standing issue with the rover has been its intermittent waypoint acquisition, which has at time left it stuck and in need of a kerbal back at mission control to point it in the right direction. Now that this final hurdle at last appears to be overcome, the rover is being readied for another long automated drive in May with new hardware and software, hopefully proving it is at last ready to tackle the Munar surface
The redesigned rover experienced some unforseen problems with its new robotic armatures that required them to be reinforced, which of course added unwanted weight to the rover. This was offset partially by decreasing the size of the rotating bases for the light and the robotic camera mast, as well as the size of the light itself. While the weight was increased to 1.118t, this is still lighter than the original rover design (which weighed in at 1.201t) and within the capabilities of the lander that was designed to deliver Lupek to the surface of Mun. Engineers considered removing the two middle wheels for a 100kg weight loss but decided the redundancy against wheel damage was worth the weight.
