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The partnership is designed to expand Australia’s space relationship with the United States by developing autonomous robotic assets.
The EPE and Lunar Outpost Oceania consortium, led by Australian company EPE and the US’ Lunar Outpost, announced that it had received funding under the Moon to Mars Trailblazer Initiative for the design of autonomous lunar mobility and excavation solutions.
At a ceremony attended by the Hon Ed Husic MP, Minister for Industry and Science, on the 20th of March, the Stage 1 funding through the Australian Space Agency will support the consortium design and develop a lunar rover to collect lunar regolith for transport to a NASA science in-situ resource utilisation facility.
Lunar Outpost confirmed that it would establish a Melbourne office to support the mission and Australia’s space industry, which will operate as a wholly owned subsidiary leveraging the company’s space-robotics expertise.
Lunar Outpost hopes that growing the Australian space industry will stimulate growth in Australia’s primary industries, mature Australia’s scientific advancements, create new bilateral and multilateral public-private partnership opportunities, and stimulate the use of space assets in humanitarian missions.
Under the partnership, it is expected that the consortium will leverage Lunar Outpost’s pedigree in cislunar mobility expertise with EPE’s background in creating uncrewed ground vehicles (UGVs) and autonomous systems.
Lead organisations within the consortium include BHP, Northrop Grumman Australia, RMIT University’s Space Industry Hub, and the University of Melbourne’s Space Laboratory.
Meanwhile, University of Adelaide, Inovor, Australian National University, Element Robotics, Colorado School of Mines, and Saber Astronautics will provide specialist input.
Titomic, One Giant Leap, VIPAC and CD3D will support as Australian industry collaborators.
According to Justin Cyrus, co-founder and chief executive officer of Lunar Outpost, the partnership will develop space-based mining and heady industry.
“With Trailblazer, our consortium will work with the Australian Space Agency to redefine resource extraction and utilisation,” he explained.
“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.”
The program will help build a competitive advantage for Australia’s domestic space manufacturing industry, Warwick Penrose, managing director of EPE, explained.
“This is an unparalleled opportunity for the development of sovereign capability in Australia’s space industry,” he said.
“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.”
Stage 2 will see the delivery of the Australian lunar rover to the moon.
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