Consortium chosen to deliver history-making national project
Brisbane, Australia – 17 December 2024 – The ELO2 Consortium, co-led by EPE Oceania and Lunar Outpost Oceania, is proud to announce its selection by the Hon. Ed Husic MP, Minister for Science and Industry, to deliver Australia's first lunar rover.
The $42 million Australian Space Agency project will see ELO2 design, construct, and operate the Australian-made rover, "Roo-ver," on the lunar surface.
"This is an extraordinary moment for our nation," said a joint statement from the co-leads, EPE Oceania and Lunar Outpost Oceania.
"It is a privilege to contribute to this groundbreaking national mission and to showcase the world-class talent and capabilities of our Australian research and industry partners on the global stage."
The ELO2 Consortium is an unparalleled collaboration of industry organisations and leading research organisations from across Australia focused on space exploration.
The group includes contributions from universities, SMEs, and industry giants, and will harness expertise from all states and territories to undertake the mission.
Together, they will pioneer Australia's lunar exploration by delivering a rover that is fully designed, manufactured, and tested in Australia—demonstrating the country's technical leadership and engineering prowess.
The selection of ELO2 follows its remarkable achievements in the preliminary design process, during which four rover prototypes were developed and rigorously tested by the Consortium partners with $4 million funding from the Australian Space Agency.
As the Grantee, EPE Oceania brings a 25-year legacy of trusted partnership with the Commonwealth and leadership in Defence, national security and extreme environment robotics technology.
Co-lead, Lunar Outpost Oceania, leverages expertise in cutting-edge space robotics and exploration to spearhead the mission's technical success and support commercialisation of the Consortium's technical developments from Australia and into the growing global space supply chain.
"This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to represent Australia on the global stage and to contribute to the international advancement of lunar exploration," said the Consortium co-leads.
"It will create new jobs in the Australian Space Industry, new internship and research opportunities, and will culminate in an Australian lunar rover being remotely operated on the Moon from Australia."
Work on the Roo-ver mission will develop critical technologies in the national interest for commercialisation and benefit here on Earth.
Key technologies under development for the mission include 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.
Terrestrial application of these critical space technologies build on Australia's existing strengths in remote operations and resources, building critical capabilities in Australia that can be exported to international markets.
Work on the mission will begin immediately, as NASA finalises launch details with the Australian Space Agency. Once on the Moon, the rover will undertake a science mission to understand the lunar surface and support Australia's contribution to the Artemis Program.
