Land Rover Astronaut Edition

Matt Posky
by Matt Posky

Exclusivity is the name of the game for high-end automakers. While mainstream brands are busy chasing down volume, they’re courting your betters. Unfortunately, not every manufacturer can simply tag a vehicle with a lofty MSRP and call it a day. They have to convince their smaller customer base that they’re getting something special in return. Enter the most insane special edition we’ve seen in a while: the Land Rover Astronaut Edition.

As the name suggests, this is an SUV literally reserved for those who have been in space — or, more accurately, have set aside the necessary funds to do so through Virgin Galactic.

The vehicle is the offspring of a longstanding partnership between Land Rover Special Vehicle Operations and Richard Branson’s space-fairing lovechild, so owners will actually be more astro-tourist than astronaut. That said, they’ll still be able to proclaim they’ve been to sub-orbital space and motion to their “Zero Gravity Blue” SUV to prove it.

The Astronaut Edition is based on the short-wheelbase Range Rover Autobiography and comes in two flavors. Those interested in virtue signaling after utilizing the planet’s finite resources to engage in some cosmic sightseeing will appreciate the P400e plug-in hybrid’s eco-friendly 2.0-liter four-cylinder and electric motor. But everyone else will probably want the high-performance P525, which comes with a supercharged 5.0-liter V8 making 518 ponies.

Regardless of powertrain, all Astronaut Edition vehicles receive white leather interiors with contrasting blue stitching and a smattering of carbon fiber. Obviously, space-themed badging abounds — extending all the way to a bespoke puddle lamp design featuring a silhouette of Virgin Galactic’s SpaceShipTwo. However, the most interesting inclusion has to be the custom cup holder crafted from the spaceship’s front landing skid, which can be swapped.

From Land Rover:

Inside, the Astronaut Edition features a crafted piece of the spaceship’s front landing skid that flew on Virgin Spaceship Unity’s first space flight in December 2018. Part of that skid, which provides the spaceship with a highly effective, lightweight braking mechanism, has been re-purposed to form two discs within the cup holders. One of these references a quote which Richard Branson often makes to his fellow Future Astronauts — ‘See you up there’ -and the other features the details of the space flight. Once a Future Astronaut has flown to space, and becomes an astronaut, this will be swapped out with part of the wooden skid from that customer’s own spaceflight, personally inscribed with the specific details of a life changing experience.

As a ticket to space currently costs $250,000 with Virgin and only exist in limited quantities, very few Land Rover Astronaut Editions are likely to be manufactured. The automaker has not yet specified a price tag for the model, but it’s going to expensive — not that it matters to any of us little people stuck on the ground.

[Images: Jaguar Land Rover]

Matt Posky
Matt Posky

A staunch consumer advocate tracking industry trends and regulation. Before joining TTAC, Matt spent a decade working for marketing and research firms based in NYC. Clients included several of the world’s largest automakers, global tire brands, and aftermarket part suppliers. Dissatisfied with the corporate world and resentful of having to wear suits everyday, he pivoted to writing about cars. Since then, that man has become an ardent supporter of the right-to-repair movement, been interviewed on the auto industry by national radio broadcasts, driven more rental cars than anyone ever should, participated in amateur rallying events, and received the requisite minimum training as sanctioned by the SCCA. Handy with a wrench, Matt grew up surrounded by Detroit auto workers and managed to get a pizza delivery job before he was legally eligible. He later found himself driving box trucks through Manhattan, guaranteeing future sympathy for actual truckers. He continues to conduct research pertaining to the automotive sector as an independent contractor and has since moved back to his native Michigan, closer to where the cars are born. A contrarian, Matt claims to prefer understeer — stating that front and all-wheel drive vehicles cater best to his driving style.

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3 of 19 comments
  • Rudiger Rudiger on May 14, 2019

    Dang, is it April 1st already? How long have I been asleep? What year is it?

    • Lie2me Lie2me on May 14, 2019

      1969 and we just got back from the moon, everything in our culture is space orientated. You and Land Rover have been asleep for 50 frickin' years

  • Garrett Garrett on May 14, 2019

    Horrible co-branding. Nobody considers Land Rover vehicles to be reliable. Why would you want that association with your space flight venture?

  • Lorenzo Well, it was never an off-roader, much less a military vehicle, so let the people with too much money play make believe.
  • EBFlex The best gift would have been a huge bonfire of all the fak mustangs in inventory and shutting down the factory that makes them.Heck, nobody would even have to risk life and limb starting the fire, just park em close together and wait for the super environmentally friendly EV fire to commence.
  • Varezhka Of all the countries to complain about WTO rules violation, especially that related to battery business…
  • Carson D At 1:24 AM, the voyage data recorder (VDR) stopped recording the vessel’s system data, but it was able to continue taping audio. At 1:26 AM, the VDR resumed recording vessel system data. Three minutes later, the Dali collided with the bridge. Nothing suspicious at all. Let's go get some booster shots!
  • Darren Mertz Where's the heater control? Where's the Radio control? Where the bloody speedometer?? In a menu I suppose. How safe is that??? Volvo....
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