ELO2 has been selected to design and build the nation’s first lunar rover for the Australian Space Agency. The ELO2 consortium consists of Australian space start-ups and small businesses, major resource companies, universities and other research partners.
The consortium was chosen from two industry consortia who developed rover concepts as part of an 18-month preliminary design process.
Minister for Industry and Science Ed Husic announced ELO2 as the successful consortium today, as its latest rover prototype was unveiled.
“This mission is about much more than an historic Aussie moonshot. It’s leveraging and building on our know-how in robotics, automation and advanced engineering to build Australia’s manufacturing future,” he said.
The Australian Government is spending AUD42 million on this phase of the mission, which will build upon Australia’s world class capabilities in robotics, automation, remote operations, engineering, science, and advanced manufacturing.
The semi-autonomous rover, named Roo-ver, will be flown to the Moon with NASA later this decade. The rover will collect lunar soil, known as regolith, and work with NASA to develop key capabilities to support a sustainable human presence on the lunar surface.
“The team behind Roo-ver are creating capability and technologies that land back down to Earth and advance many of the industries we rely on,” added Husic. “It’s also helping keep our best talent here in Australia, with several STEM graduates already hired direct from universities for the project.”
Head of the Australian Space Agency Enrico Palermo highlighted that Roo-ver demonstrates the cutting-edge capability Australia can offer to major international space missions.
“This project is as much about the journey as the destination,” he said. “Australia is gaining valuable knowledge and technical skill just from developing Roo-ver, creating opportunity 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,” Palermo added.
The ELO2 Consortium said the team was excited to get straight into working on this next phase of the mission.
“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, said ELO2’s Warwick Penrose.
“Every member of our Consortium is committed to achieving success on behalf of all Australians, and showcasing the talent and capabilities of our world-leading research and industry partners on the international stage.”
