Winner named for $42 million lunar rover contract

The winner from two bids shortlisted to deliver Australia’s first lunar rover has been announced, with the ELO2 Consortium named on Tuesday to design, construct, test and operate the vehicle dubbed “Roo-ver”.

The consortium to deliver Moon to Mars Initiative’s Trailblazer Stage 2 is led by EPE Oceania and Lunar Outpost Oceania and includes SMEs, resources giant BHP, universities and others (a list of its members is reproduced below.)

Warwick Penrose, CEO of the EPE group, said: “It has been an immense privilege to have been involved in this history-making national mission up to this point and it’s an even bigger privilege to now be trusted with building and operating an Australian rover on the Moon.

Roo-ver will be controlled from earth and collect lunar soil – known as regolith – and deliver it to NASA during an Artemis mission.

The rover is expected to weigh about 20 kilograms, operate on the moon for 14 days, and the mission could happen “as soon as 2026”, according to previous statements.

The project coordinated by the Australian Space Agency with NASA is budgeted at $42 million.

The two contenders have been working on their competing rovers for almost 18 months. ELO2 and rival consortium AROSE were each awarded $4 million in March 2023 for Stage One of the Trailblazer program. 

According to ELO2 , the mission “will develop critical technologies in the national interest for commercialisation and benefit here on Earth”, including in “advanced manufacturing, novel materials, extreme environment robotics, AI and autonomous systems, advanced sensors, power systems, communications, human-machine interface for remote operations and thermal management.” 

Australian Space Agency Head Enrico Palermo said: “This project is as much about the journey as the destination. Australia is gaining valuable knowledge and technical skill just from developing Roo-ver, creating [opportunities] to become an even bigger part of the global space sector.

“Establishing a sustainable human presence on the Moon is a major focus of the international space community over the coming decades, and this mission centres Australia in that foundational work, while advancing our national robotics ecosystem to improve life here on Earth.”

Picture: supplied

Further reading

Competition to name rover all over. Roo-ver it is

Rovers on a roll for Australian Made Week

Lunar rover prototype unveilled for Moon mission

Rolling for regolith

ELO2 Consortium Partners