Tenacious had reached the Moon but was unable to drive on its surface. Four years after that failure, Ispace-Europe is set to attempt to turn a rover designed in Luxembourg into a European lunar exploration capability. The European Space Agency (ESA) and Ispace-Europe formalised the agreement on Tuesday 1 September in Copenhagen, the second phase of the Magpie programme was signed. The agreement had been finalised in July for €65m with the Luxembourg-based company.
This sum is intended to fund all the work still to be carried out: the development and manufacture of the rover and its instruments, testing, transport to the Moon’s surface, mission operations and the transmission of scientific data to the ESA. The launch is scheduled for 2029 aboard Mission 4 Ultra, a lander developed by the Japanese parent company Ispace. Its precision lunar landing capability is funded by the Japanese Space Strategy Fund, administered by the space agency Jaxa. Cooperation between ESA and Jaxa should enable the European rover to be included on this mission.
In search of water ice at the South Pole
Magpie, an acronym for ‘Mission for Advanced Geophysics and Polar Ice Exploration’, will explore the region around the lunar South Pole. The rover will search for water ice and other volatile substances, whilst studying the properties of the regolith – the layer of dust and rock fragments covering the lunar surface. Some areas near the poles never receive direct sunlight. The extreme cold there may have preserved ice for very long periods. The mission will seek to determine its distribution, stability and interactions with the surrounding terrain.
The implications go beyond scientific knowledge. If extracted locally, the water could help supply future human settlements. Its components – hydrogen and oxygen – could also be used to produce fuel. Before considering such exploitation, however, space agencies need to know where these resources are located, in what quantities, and under what conditions they could be accessed.
Mobility is therefore one of Magpie’s key features. Unlike a fixed instrument, the rover will be able to compare different locations and types of terrain. In particular, it will carry a drill, a mass spectrometer designed to analyse volatile substances, a radar capable of studying the subsurface, and instruments for measuring neutrons and radiation.
A consortium led from Luxembourg
Ispace-Europe, based in Luxembourg, leads a consortium comprising partners from five countries. The Technical University of Munich is supplying the drill. In the United Kingdom, ESR Technology, the Open University and RAL Space are contributing to the sampling and analysis system. The University of Oslo is developing the ground-penetrating radar, whilst the Czech Technical University in Prague is supplying the neutron and radiation spectrometers.
“By prospecting for water and other volatile resources, Magpie will provide essential insights for the next phase of sustainable lunar exploration,” says Daniel Neuenschwander, director of human and robotic exploration at ESA. He describes Magpie as the agency’s first lunar rover and as an example of its commitment to accelerating the development of more cost-effective missions in partnership with private companies.
According to Julien-Alexandre Lamamy, CEO of Ispace-Europe, Magpie must transform “European expertise into genuine operational capability on the Moon”. The Luxembourg-based organisation’s remit will not be limited to the construction of the vehicle: it will cover mission design, operations and the delivery of scientific data.
