How Does the New Six Moon Designs Lunar Orbiter Tent Compare to the Competition?

I’ve been backpacking with Six Moon Designs’ Haven Tarp for many years and consider them an innovative maker of quality lightweight gear. I’m also a bit of a freestanding solo tent connoisseur thanks to many solo bikepacking adventures (learn why freestanding tents are great for bikepacking here). 

So when Six Moon Designs launched their new Lunar Orbiter tent, I couldn’t resist diving into the specs to compare it with other solo freestanding tents I know well. Here’s my take on how this interesting new solo tent stacks up against its competition.

Bottom Line

• The Lunar Orbiter is a freestanding, single-wall, 3-season solo tent from the small and innovative gear maker Six Moon Designs.

• It prioritizes spaciousness (wide floor, excellent headroom, huge vestibules) and weather-resistance, making it especially attractive for long and/or gear-intensive trips in wet or unpredictable weather.

• Its unique design, in particular external poles and short sections of pole sleeve, bucks the norms of mainstream solo freestanding tents. For the closest comparison I know of see Big Sky’s Mirage 1P or 1.5P.

• It’s on the heavier end of the freestanding solo tent spectrum, but not by much, and if spaciousness is a priority for you the extra few ounces are likely worth it.

• I would definitely try this tent for bikepacking, especially longer and less predictable trips. For backpacking I personally lighter options, even at the expense of some spaciousness and convenience.

Comparison Table

At a glance, here’s how the Lunar Orbiter’s specs compare to the other tents I’m familiar with in the solo freestanding 3-season category.

This table should scroll horizontally on smaller screens.

Why Freestanding?

All the tents in this comparison are freestanding. Why the focus on this particular category? 

Freestanding tents can be pitched without stakes, usually excepting the vestibules, because their structure is entirely created by poles. This is in contrast to trekking-pole-supported tents or tarps or other clever lightweight designs that require stakes and guy lines to create their shape. 

Why choose a freestanding tent? They can be pitched anywhere, even on ground that can’t be staked (like solid granite slabs or a gravel parking lot), making them ideal for long-distance thru hikes and bike tours when you never know where you might end up pitching for the night.

They’re also fast to set up (no futzing with stakes) and can be a bit more robust in bad weather, or at least more fool-proof since you don’t need to be an expert with guy lines. 

The main reason NOT to choose a freestanding tent: they’re a bit heavier than non-freestanding counterparts, but these days they’re getting pretty darn light and all the options discussed here are under three pounds.

Single vs. Double Wall

The Lunar Orbiter bucks the trend with its single wall design, a hybrid with mesh sides under the vestibules and a single wall roof.

Most freestanding solo tents use double wall construction, meaning the inner and outer are separate pieces. All else being equal double wall has advantages: improved ventilation, reduced condensation buildup, and the ability to use the inner without the fly in hot weather. It is, however, a bit heavier because of the additional fabric.

The Orbiter’s single wall design is likely part of Six Moon Designs’ strategy for offering such a roomy, full-featured tent at relatively light weight. You’re trading off the versatility of a double wall tent for an extremely spacious inner plus vestibules and seemingly above-average weather resistance, which may well be worthwhile.

The Big Sky Mirage is the only other tent in the comparison table with a similar single-wall hybrid design. It also has exterior poles and double doors and vestibules, making it the closest competitor to the Lunar Orbiter that I’m aware of.

Weight

The Lunar Orbiter has a packed weight of 2 lbs 12 oz, which is technically the heaviest tent in the table above, but just barely. It’s within a couple ounces of both the Hubba Hubba and the Dragonfly, both fully featured classics in the freestanding solo tent lineup.

But the Lunar Orbiter isn’t a perfect comparison to most of these other tents. As I’ll get to below, it prioritizes some unusual features — like an extremely roomy inner and double doors and vestibules — at the expense of a few extra ounces.

The Big Sky Mirage is the closest comparison to the Lunar Orbiter, sharing design choices like single wall construction, exterior poles, and double doors and vestibules. It weighs a much lighter 2 lbs 2.4 oz, which is a pretty compelling difference. BUT, the Orbiter’s interior is much more spacious and actually in line with the Mirage’s “1.5 person” model, which weighs 2 lbs 5 oz, still nearly half a pound lighter. Though the Orbiter’s headroom is considerably taller and there are other differences to consider.

Overall I’d say the Orbiter has a decent weight for its size and feature set, especially if you compare it to mainstream standards like the Copper Spur and Hubba Hubba which are considerably less spacious. Extremely weight-conscious backpackers will likely pass the Orbiter by, but those folks are probably not choosing a freestanding tent anyway.

Price

At $425 the Lunar Orbiter is right in line with most of its competition, especially other mainstream models like the Copper Spur and Hubba Hubba (though you can often find those on deep discount for prior seasons’ models).

Fellow small gear maker Big Sky continues to be the winner when it comes to keeping prices low, but the difference is relatively small with the Mirage 1.5P coming in at $400.

Pole Structure

There are only a handful of ways to arrange tent poles into a freestanding design, and the Lunar Orbiter uses a dome tent style that I haven’t seen before in a 1 person model.

Most mainstream models (Copper Spur, Dragonfly, etc) use a single ridgeline pole with a short cross pole at the peak and forked branches at both ends. This creates a roomy inner with decent resistance to cross-winds.

The Big Sky tents (Soul, Revolution, Mirage) use a clever and simple design: two identical poles crossed in the middle. This is super easy to set up but not quite as wide at the peak, and vulnerable to scissoring sideways in strong cross-winds (ask me how I know).

The new Lunar Orbiter is a bit of a cross between these two, using what appears to be two identical poles that cross at two places instead of one, like two hemispheres leaning together and overlapping (a bit reminiscent of, yes, orbital paths in astronomy). Combined with the pole sleeves at the peak, this looks like it would offer a lot of lateral stability and wind resistance.

The Lunar Orbiter also stands out for its exterior poles, a featured shared by some of Big Sky’s tents like the Mirage and Revolution. One major advantage of exterior pole tents is the ability to pitch in the rain without the inner getting wet.

All these solo freestanding tents use clips to attach the inner (or with exterior pole tents, the outer) to the poles. The Lunar Orbiter is the only one on the list with a short section of pole sleeve as well. Though I’m generally not a fan of feeding tent poles through sleeves (too fiddly) the Orbiter’s sleeves are short and seem to offer helpful structural stability.

Living Space

The Lunar Orbiter has an incredibly spacious interior: a 90 x 44″ rectangular floor. I don’t know of any other solo tent that comes close. Big Sky cleverly offers some of their tents in a “1.5 person” size which is probably the nearest comparison, and even those are slightly narrower on average (tapered 45 / 40″ width).

Other solo freestanding tents are typically around 32 – 34″ wide, so nearly a foot narrower than the Lunar Orbiter. Some popular 2-person tents are actually narrower at the floor, like the Copper Spur HV UL2 with a width of 42 inches. (Note that the pole structure of the Lunar Orbiter isn’t designed to comfortably accommodate two people sitting up like a 2 person tent is, so we can’t compare it directly to 2 person tents.)

Then there’s headroom: The Lunar Orbiter has a whopping 48″ peak height. The NEMO Dragonfly is the next-tallest option at 40″ tall, still 8″ shorter than the Orbiter in terms of headroom.

This makes the Orbiter ideal for big and tall folks, obviously. It’s also great for anyone who spends a lot of time in their tent (long-distance bike travelers perhaps), or those who want to bring a lot of gear inside at night (again, bike travelers). Hikers or bikers traveling with a dog or young child might also be a great fit.

The Orbiter’s removable gear loft is a smart idea too, allowing good use of that extra headroom for those who don’t need it all.

Vestibules

The Lunar Orbiter doubles down (pun intended) on spaciousness with its vestibules: two 8 square foot covered spaces for a total of 16 square feet, with a door on each side for access.

The Orbiter is one of very few solo tents with double side doors and two vestibules. The Big Sky Revolution (double wall) and Mirage (single wall) tents are the only others I know of with a similar layout. They are both quite a bit lighter, but also smaller unless you size up to the 1.5 person model. Their vestibules are also a little smaller.

The Lunar Orbiter’s large vestibule coverage is impressive, the largest I’ve seen on a solo tent. It would be great for gear-intensive adventures in wet weather. When combined with the roomy interior you have a ton of space for keeping gear nearby and sheltered.

The double doors offer some flexibility in campsite setup since you can enter on either side, but I wouldn’t consider this a must-have feature by any means (except as access to the vestibules).

Weather Resistance

It’s not fair to comment on weather resistance without actually testing a tent in weather, and I have not tested the Lunar Orbiter. But Six Moon Designs positions weather resistance as one of its strengths. From their description: “this modern take on a dome tent will deflect high winds, shed rain and snow, and keep you safe from the elements.”

The Lunar Orbiter is still squarely in the 3-season tent category, but I can imagine the dome-like structure doing well in snow thanks to the steep walls, and in wind thanks to its angled faces and laterally stable pole structure.

There’s also the nice feature of being able to pitch in rain without the inside getting wet thanks to the exterior poles. And the vestibules are certainly large enough to cook in (carefully, as always). Putting all this together the Lunar Orbiter looks like a good choice for adventures in especially wet, unpredictable, or shoulder season weather.

Bikepacking Version?

All the other tents in my comparison table come in “bikepacking” versions, as this is the area I track most closely. Should bikepackers be worried that the Lunar Orbiter doesn’t?

Personally, I think the Lunar Orbiter makes a great bikepacking tent as-is. Bikepacking-specific tents vary in their features but the label usually means freestanding, shorter poles (12″ or so, for packability), a stealthy color (to support our wild camping escapades), and sometimes an easily strappable stuff sack.

The Lunar Orbiter’s dark green color is stealth camping friendly, especially in forested areas (a bit on the dark side for deserts). The lack of a fancy stuff sack saves weight and is no big loss in my opinion. As for poles, the Orbiter’s 15.5″ poles aren’t super long and you can definitely bikepack with longer poles, even on drop handlebars (see How to Carry a Tent While Bikepacking).

Despite not having the “bikepacking” label I think the Lunar Orbiter would make a great bikepacking tent, especially for longer trips where everything, from weather to itinerary, is unpredictable. When we’re living in a tent for weeks or months, factors like spaciousness and livability are paramount. Spending a rest day or rainstorm in your tent with all your gear is going to much more pleasant in the Lunar Orbiter than most other solo tents.

Only one drawback for certain styles of bikepacking in my opinion: the Orbiter’s single wall design. If you bikepack in warm and/or humid climates, it can be nice to have a fully removable rainfly for ventilation while maintaining the bug protection of a mesh inner.

In summary the Lunar Orbiter is a compelling addition to the solo freestanding tent lineup, and not just a copy-cat of mainstream models. For adventurers who prioritize livability, gear space, weather-resistance, and versatility over shaving every ounce, the Lunar Orbiter is definitely worth a look.

More Adventure Resources

If you liked this post, take a look at these:

• Bikepacker’s Visual Guide to Loading Your Bike
• 8 Short(er) Thru Hikes in the United States
• How to (Comfortably and Responsibly) Poop in the Woods

Or visit the bikepacking and backpacking sections for lots more.