The EPE & Lunar Outpost Oceania Consortium, co-led by Australian company EPE and US company Lunar Outpost, has received grant funding under the Moon to Mars Trailblazer Initiative for the design of autonomous lunar mobility and excavation solutions.
The consortium is one of two successful groups to receive Stage 1 grant funding from the Australian Government through the Australian Space Agency under the Trailblazer program. The announcement was made yesterday by Minister for Industry and Science Ed Husic, along with dignitaries from the Australian Space Agency and NASA.
The Moon to Mars Trailblazer Initiative seeks to progress Australian space exploration with remotely operated and autonomous Australian robotic lunar assets. In Stage 1 of the Initiative, the consortium will focus on the design and development of a lunar rover capable of collecting lunar regolith for delivery to a NASA science in-situ resource utilisation (ISRU) facility.
The rover is part of the NASA Moon to Mars mission which will be a major step towards a sustainable human presence on the Moon and supporting future missions to Mars. It aims to launch by 2026.
Lunar Outpost also announced the formation of a Melbourne-based wholly owned subsidiary, Lunar Outpost Oceania (LOOC), to support the mission and the Australian space industry.
The consortium will couple LOOC’s cislunar mobility expertise with EPE’s experience in Uncrewed Ground Vehicles (UGV), autonomous operations and sensor integrations.
Lead consortium partners include BHP, Northrop Grumman Australia, RMIT University’s Space Industry Hub, and University of Melbourne’s Space Laboratory. University of Adelaide, Inovor, Australian National University, Element Robotics, Colorado School of Mines and Saber Astronautics will provide specialist contributions, and Australian industry collaborators include Titomic, One Giant Leap, VIPAC and CD3D.
“With Trailblazer, our consortium will work with the Australian Space Agency to redefine resource extraction and utilisation," Co-founder and CEO of Lunar Outpost, Justin Cyrus, said. "Trailblazer is a unique opportunity to not only utilise resources from another planetary body but also to bring that novel technology back here to Earth to guide mining into a carbon-neutral future; all in pursuit of taking mining and heavy industry into space in the years to come.”
“This is an unparalleled opportunity for the development of sovereign capability in Australia’s space industry," EPE’s Managing Director, Warwick Penrose, added. "Together with co-lead Lunar Outpost, we’re excited to contribute to the Initiative our many years of experience testing, deploying and operating UGVs in remote and hostile environments, and leveraging the significant capabilities of our consortium partners to help develop a global competitive advantage for Australia within an international space exploration program.”