Europe contributes $900 million to the development of a lunar lander

Thale Alenia Space has announced the launch of a nearly €900 million. Thale Space Systems has secured a $900 million contract for the development and delivery of the Argonaut lunar landing element (LDE). "Argonaut is the European Space Agency's cargo lander, with missions to the Moon scheduled from the 2030s.

The objectives of the first mission are now known

The contract announced on 30 January covers the design and integration of the LDE. This element will be responsible for transporting the spacecraft and landing it on the Moon. 

The LDE will be accompanied by a customisable interface element. It will be used to transport various cargo and scientific instruments to the Moon.

The first Argonaut mission is expected to carry navigation and telecommunications equipment, as well as a power generation and storage system, Thales Alenia Space said. These payloads will be used to support Europe's commercial lunar south pole exploration programme.

"Thales Alenia Space is owned by a joint venture between Thales of France and Leonardo of Italy.

"Argonaut could contribute to NASA missions

The European Space Agency is also evaluating Argonaut as a potential resource for NASA's future Artemis lunar missions. This is because Argonaut can carry a payload of around two metric tonnes.

"This new element of the Artemis programme will support long-term human lunar exploration missions and will be crucial to strengthening Europe's autonomy in lunar exploration," said Hervé Derrey, CEO of Thales Alenia Space.

As part of the Artemis programme, NASA last year commissioned US companies SpaceX and Blue Origin to develop cargo versions of its Human Landing System (HLS) capable of carrying at least 12 metric tonnes of cargo to the lunar surface. This is well beyond the capacity of Argonaut. It is also ahead of the capabilities of the smaller robotic landers that currently carry science and technology demonstration payloads under NASA's Commercial Lunar Cargo Services programme.

"Argonaut stands out for its versatility

"Thales Alenia Space underlines the versatility of Argonaut. Its interface is designed to support a wide range of missions.

According to the company, the lander could carry supplies for astronauts, launch Mars rovers, carry out technology demonstrations, support the exploitation of the Moon's resources, and accommodate a telescope or energy station.

Although Thales Alenia Space is the prime contractor for the development of the LDE, the overall responsibility for the mission, including cargo integration and LDE operations, will be determined through a separate procurement process in the future.