Space propulsion specialist Nammo UK has been selected to supply the main engine for the Argonaut Lunar Lander, a key European contribution to NASA’s Artemis program. The confirmation came during a signing ceremony on 20 November at ESA’s European Astronaut Centre in Cologne, involving senior representatives from the European Space Agency, Thales Alenia Space and Nammo.
The mission will use Nammo UK’s next-generation bi-propellant engine, RELIANCE, a 6 kN throttleable propulsion system designed and developed at the company’s Westcott Venture Park facility in Buckinghamshire. The engine will power Europe’s first lunar lander mission, planned for 2031 under NASA’s Artemis architecture.
Robert Selby, Vice President of Nammo Space, said the selection represents a major milestone both for the RELIANCE programme and for European propulsion capability. “This marks a major step forward for the RELIANCE development, Nammo’s ambitions and European capabilities. We are honoured to be selected, and this is a testament to the remarkable team we have. We’re proud to contribute cutting-edge propulsion technology to the Argonaut mission and play a pivotal role in landing Europe on the Moon for the first time.”
UK Space Agency Chief Executive Dr Paul Bate said the decision highlights the strength of the UK’s growing propulsion sector. He noted that RELIANCE is being developed within the Westcott Space Cluster, building on decades of national expertise in rocket propulsion and supporting high-value jobs. He added that the system’s design could enable a wide range of future missions as international partnerships deepen under Artemis.
Argonaut is ESA’s autonomous lunar lander designed to support America’s return to the Moon, delivering scientific instruments, infrastructure and essential supplies such as food and water. With NASA aiming to reestablish a sustained human presence on the lunar surface for the first time since Apollo 17 in 1972, Argonaut will be central to international logistics and surface support.
The RELIANCE engine—Rocket Engine for Lunar and Interplanetary Anglo-Norwegian Commercial Exploitation—features a throttleable design using a pintle injector inspired by the Apollo programme. Combined with an integrated engine controller, the system provides the precise thrust modulation needed for safe lunar landings. It uses hypergolic propellants and draws on Nammo UK’s extensive LEROS heritage.
Nammo UK’s propulsion technology already underpins several high-profile missions. Firefly Aerospace’s Blue Ghost lander, which achieved the first commercial lunar landing in March 2025, relied on the LEROS 4 engine developed under UKSA and NASA CLPS support. NASA’s Juno spacecraft used the company’s LEROS 1b engine to journey to Jupiter—at the time setting the record for the fastest human-made object at 230,000 mph. Nammo also recently supplied the propulsion system for Astroscale’s ADRAS-J mission, which captured the world’s first image of orbital debris as part of ongoing space-sustainability efforts.
Nammo UK is part of the international Nammo Group, operating propulsion facilities in the UK, Norway and Ireland, and continues to advance new technologies for the global spacecraft and launch sector.
