European made lunar micro rover set to fly
ispace EUROPE, the Luxembourg-based subsidiary of global lunar exploration company ispace, has announced that the flight model of its European designed, manufactured, and assembled lunar micro rover has been completed and is being prepared for delivery to Japan for integration into the HAKUTO-R Mission 2 RESILIENCE lunar lander.
The lunar micro rover was designed, manufactured, and assembled with co-funding from the Luxembourg Space Agency through a European Space Agency contract with the Luxembourg National Space Programme, LuxIMPULSE.
The lunar micro rover, intended to be lowered to the lunar surface from the RESILIENCE lunar lander and conduct exploration of the area around the landing site, is named TENACIOUS. The name embodies both the human characteristics of the small-in-stature, yet unrelenting enterprise of the rover as well as the ispace-EUROPE team that has been developing it based on the ispace heritage of rover design and manufacturing.
TENACIOUS measures 26 cm tall, 31.5 cm wide, 54 cm long, and weighs approximately 5 kg. Its lightweight frame is made of carbon fiber-reinforced plastics (CFRP) that are able to withstand the rocket launch and other vibrations during transit to the lunar surface.
The lunar micro rover is equipped with a forward-mounted HD camera that can capture images on the lunar surface. The wheels are shaped in such a way so that the rover can traverse lunar regolith in a stable manner. Commands and data will be sent and received from the mission control center via the lander.
“Tenacious perfectly captures the spirit of this small lunar micro rover, poised to achieve groundbreaking milestones. It is the first lunar rover built in Europe and will be the first to transport European customers to the Moon’s surface and collect space resources under Luxembourg’s 2017 Space Resources Law,” said Julien Lamamy, CEO of ispace-EUROPE.
“As the world’s interest in lunar exploration grows, we are very pleased to contribute, through our European subsidiary, to the development of the European Space Agency and the Luxembourg Space Agency for the future utilization of lunar resources,” said Takeshi Hakamada, Founder and CEO of ispace.
Mission 2, ispace’s second lunar exploration mission, is expected to launch on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from Cape Canaveral, Florida, in Winter 2024. RESILIENCE will deliver commercial and scientific equipment to the lunar surface and is expected to contribute to the NASA-led Artemis program. In addition to operation of its commercial payloads, the mission will include the TENACIOUS lunar micro rover, which will deploy from the lunar lander and conduct surface exploration including the collection of lunar regolith.
In December 2020, ispace-EUROPE was selected by NASA to acquire regolith from the lunar surface to be purchased by the space agency. Once on the lunar surface, ispace operators plan to use a shovel to collect a sample of lunar regolith and photograph the collection with the camera mounted on the rover.
ispace is leveraging its global presence through its three business units in Japan, the U.S., and Luxembourg, for the simultaneous development of upcoming missions. Mission 2 is led by the ispace Japan entity. Mission 3, debuting the APEX 1.0 lunar lander, is led by the ispace U.S. entity and is expected to launch in 2026. Mission 6, which will utilize the Series 3 lander, currently being designed in Japan, is scheduled to be launched by 2027.
If you enjoyed this article, you will like the following ones: don't miss them by subscribing to :
