At the beginning of 2025 ESA awarded Space Application Services a contract to design a 300kg Lunar Prospecting and Scouting Rover which will test technologies required for a follow-on large, 1,500kg, logistics rover. The Space Applications Services team has already achieved the first Design and Analysis Cycle (DAC-1). In this initial phase, state-of-the-art of critical lunar rover technologies have been identified, commercial lunar delivery service options assessed, reference mission scenarios determined and preliminary system requirements prepared.
Space Applications Services held an industry day to explain the objectives of the rover mission and has issued Requests for Information to companies throughout Europe to establish which companies have the necessary technology, products and expertise to join the Lunar Prospecting and Scouting Rover consortium.
In parallel, Space Applications Services met with European Space Agency member state delegates to communicate the strategic significance of the LPSR mission, the industrial opportunities and benefits of participation. These comprehensive efforts have been formally appreciated by ESA and will support the ESA Council Of Ministers meeting in late 2025.
