ispace EUROPE completes Europe’s first lunar micro-rover

ispace EUROPE has completed the assembly of a flight model of a small lunar rover, described as a micro-rover. It was designed and manufactured in-house in Luxembourg.

The European subsidiary of ispace says the micro-rover will next be transported to Japan. Once there, it will installed on the “HAKUTO-R” Mission 2 RESILIENCE Lander, a lunar lander.

Micro-rover

Dubbed TENACIOUS, the system is due to be ready for launch before the end of this year.

“TENACIOUS is a name that perfectly captures the spirit of this small micro-rover that is set to achieve groundbreaking milestones,” said Julien-Alexandre Lamamy, CEO of ispace EUROPE.

“It is the first micro-rover manufactured in Europe and, under the Space Resources Act that came into force in Luxembourg in 2017, will be the first micro-rover capable of carrying European customers to the surface of the Moon and extracting space resources.”

The microrover was designed, manufactured and assembled with co-finance by the Luxembourg Space Agency. This was for the LuxIMPULSE space programme through a contract with the European Space Agency.

Mission 2

In Mission 2, the micro-rover will be stored in the payload bay of the RESILIENCE lander. After a moon landing, it will deploy on the lunar surface and drive itself to explore.

The rover is 26cm high, 31.5cm wide, 54cm long, and weighs approximately 5kg. The wheels enable stable movement even over the lunar regolith environment.

The body is made of a CFRP (carbon fiber composite) to be lightweight but sturdy enough to withstand the vibrations of rocket launches. And a HD camera sits on the front of the rover for take pictures of the lunar surface.

Commands and data will be sent to and from the rover via the lander to the mission control room in Luxembourg.

iSpace’s Mission 2 will be led by the Japanese subsidiary in the winter of 2024. This will be followed by Mission 3 led by the US subsidiary in 2026. Mission 6 is scheduled for 2027 using a Series 3 Lander currently under development in Japan.

Luxembourg

Luxembourg has an increasingly expanding space sector.

The Grand Duchy has an expanding space sector with more than 50 companies and two public research organisations, and the Luxembourg Space Agency. For example, as well as iSpace EUROPE, ClearSpace is based there.

Image: ispace EUROPE – the fully assembled flight model of the micro rover

See also: ispace cooperating with Swedish Space Corporation for Mission 3