The winning consortium, co-led by EPE and Lunar Outpost Oceania, said work would begin “immediately” on creating the final design while the Australian Space Agency finalises launch details.
The federal government granted ELO2 and AROSE $4 million last year to design an initial prototype for a rover – later named Roo-ver – that will be developed to explore the Moon’s surface.
ELO2 was widely tipped to win after being the first to unveil its model late last year and subsequently creating four working versions, two of which were showcased at this year’s Australian Space Summit.
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The winning design will collect lunar regolith, or Moon soil, that will eventually be turned into oxygen to support a permanent NASA base.
Regolith can both become oxygen that humans can breathe or aid the production of rocket fuel necessary to support the launch of a rocket from the Moon to Mars and beyond.
“The technologies developed for Roo-ver will underpin enabling capabilities for AUKUS Pillar II asymmetric technologies, advancing Australia’s sovereign defence and national security capabilities,” said ELO2 director Ben Sorensen.
“These critical technologies not only address Australia’s immediate needs in space exploration but also have far-reaching applications for Defence, mining, energy, and disaster response industries.
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“This project exemplifies the dual-use benefits of space technology, reinforcing its potential to drive innovation and economic growth across sectors.”
The ELO2 consortium consists of organisations, including universities, SMEs, and those in the mining sector.
In particular, the University of Adelaide is responsible for the rover’s ongoing testing, Inovor provided the electrical power system, and BHP provided expertise in excavation.
Enrico Palermo, the head of the Australian Space Agency, called the rover plan one of the most ambitious robotic projects in Australia.
“It is a big part of Australia’s commitment and contribution to the Artemis program,” he said.
It comes after Space Connect reported earlier this month how the wider Artemis missions to the Moon would be delayed.
The Artemis II mission to fly astronauts close to the Moon will shift from September 2025 to April 2026, while Artemis III is now targeting a mid-2027 blast-off.
However, in a significant breakthrough, the space agency has identified the cause of the heat shield problems on the Orion capsule and believes it can simply change the re-entry trajectory to avoid the problem reoccurring.
“Our early Artemis flights are a test campaign, and the Artemis I test flight gave us an opportunity to check out our systems in the deep space environment before adding crew on future missions,” said Amit Kshatriya, a NASA deputy associate administrator.
“The heat shield investigation helped ensure we fully understand the cause and nature of the issue, as well as the risk we are asking our crews to take when they venture to the moon.”
NASA said its teams took a methodical approach to identifying the root cause of the char loss issue, including sampling of the Artemis I heat shield, review of imagery from sensors on the spacecraft, and comprehensive ground testing and analysis.
More to follow…
Adam Thorn
Adam is a journalist who has worked for more than 40 prestigious media brands in the UK and Australia. Since 2005, his varied career has included stints as a reporter, copy editor, feature writer and editor for publications as diverse as Fleet Street newspaper The Sunday Times, fashion bible Jones, media and marketing website Mumbrella as well as lifestyle magazines such as GQ, Woman’s Weekly, Men’s Health and Loaded. He joined Momentum Media in early 2020 and currently writes for Australian Aviation and World of Aviation.
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