See also
- Lunar lander programs by country
- China: Chinese Lunar Exploration Program
- India: Chandrayaan Programme
- Russia: Luna-Glob
- United States: Commercial Lunar Payload Services (Artemis program)
- Japan: Japanese Lunar Exploration Program
| Manufacturer | European Space Agency |
|---|---|
| Designer | European Space Agency |
| Country of origin | European Union |
| Operator | European Space Agency |
| Applications | Lunar payload delivery and support |
| Specifications | |
| Spacecraft type | Lunar lander |
| Payload capacity | 2100 kg |
| Dimensions | |
| Length | 6 m |
| Diameter | 4.5 m |
| Production | |
| Status | Testing |
| On order | 0 |
| Built | 0 |
| Launched | 0 |
| Operational | 0 |
| Maiden launch | 2031 (planned) [1] |
| Related spacecraft | |
| Flown with | Ariane 64 |
Argonaut or European Large Logistics Lander (EL3) is a class of lunar landers designed by the European Space Agency in partnership with Airbus to deliver payloads to the surface of the Moon. [2] The lander is being designed with a versatile set of uses in mind, including use as a power station, support for a rover, cargo delivery, and infrastructure delivery. It is envisioned to launch on an Ariane 64 launch vehicle. [3] [4] [5] As of July 2024, Argonaut Mission 1 is expected to be launched in 2031. [1]
In 2022, ESA formally sought funding for the lander in their ministerial meeting. [6] In 2024, Redwire Space was awarded a contract by ESA to develop a robotic arm for use on the lander. [7]
The Argonaut lander will consist of the descent element, cargo platform and payload. Capable of delivering upto 2100 kg, the craft will reportedly be able to land with an accuracy of 50–100 meters. [8] Engine testing began in 2024. [9]
The European Space Agency (ESA) is a 22-member intergovernmental body devoted to space exploration. With its headquarters in Paris and a staff of around 2,200 people globally as of 2022, ESA was founded in 1975. Its 2024 annual budget was €7.8 billion.
The Automated Transfer Vehicle, originally Ariane Transfer Vehicle or ATV, was an expendable cargo spacecraft developed by the European Space Agency (ESA), used for space cargo transport in 2008–2015. The ATV design was launched to orbit five times, exclusively by the Ariane 5 heavy-lift launch vehicle. It effectively was a larger European counterpart to the Russian Progress cargo spacecraft for carrying upmass to a single destination—the International Space Station (ISS)—but with three times the capacity.
The Aurora programme was a human spaceflight programme of the European Space Agency (ESA) established in 2001. The objective was to formulate and then to implement a European long-term plan for exploration of the Solar System using robotic spacecraft and human spaceflight to investigate bodies holding promise for traces of life beyond the Earth.
ExoMars is an astrobiology programme of the European Space Agency (ESA).
The Lunar Lander was a robotic mission intended to send a lander vehicle to the Moon, led by ESA's Human Spaceflight and Operations directorate. The primary objective of the Lunar Lander mission was to demonstrate Europe's ability to deliver payload safely and accurately to the Moon's surface. More specifically the mission would have demonstrated the technologies required to achieve a soft and precise landing while autonomously avoiding surface hazards that can endanger landing and surface mission safety. These technologies will be an asset for future human and robotic exploration missions. However the project was put on hold at the 2012 ESA Ministerial Council.
A space tug is a type of spacecraft used to transfer spaceborne cargo from one orbit to another orbit with different energy characteristics. The term can include expendable upper stages or spacecraft that are not necessarily a part of their launch vehicle. However, it can also refer to a spacecraft that transports payload already in space to another location in outer space, such as in the Space Transportation System concept. An example would be moving a spacecraft from a low Earth orbit (LEO) to a higher-energy orbit like a geostationary transfer orbit, a lunar transfer, or an escape trajectory.
The European System Providing Refueling Infrastructure and Telecommunications (ESPRIT) is an under construction module of the Lunar Gateway. It will provide refueling through additional xenon and hydrazine capacity for use in the Power and Propulsion Element's ion engines and hydrazine thrusters. It will also provide additional communications equipment, a habitation area, and storage. It will have a launch mass of approximately 10,000 kg (22,000 lb), a length of 6.4 m (21 ft), and a diameter of 4.6 m (15 ft). ESA awarded two parallel design studies for ESPRIT, one mostly led by Airbus in partnership with Comex and OHB and one led by Thales Alenia Space. The construction of the module was approved in November 2019. On 14 October 2020, Thales Alenia Space announced that they had been selected by ESA to build the ESPRIT module.
A number of different spacecraft have been used to carry cargo to and from space stations.
Ariane 6 is a European expendable launch system operated by Arianespace and developed and produced by ArianeGroup on behalf of the European Space Agency (ESA). It replaces Ariane 5, as part of the Ariane launch vehicle family.
The European Service Module (ESM) is the service module component of the Orion spacecraft, serving as its primary power and propulsion component until it is discarded at the end of each mission. In January 2013, NASA announced that the European Space Agency (ESA) will contribute the service module for Artemis 1, based on the ESA's Automated Transfer Vehicle (ATV). It was delivered by Airbus Defence and Space in Bremen, in northern Germany to NASA at the end of 2018. After approval of the first module, the ESA will provide the ESMs from Artemis 2 to Artemis 6.
Luna 27 is a planned lunar lander mission by the Roscosmos with collaboration by the European Space Agency (ESA) to send a lander to the South Pole–Aitken basin, an area on the far side of the Moon. Its objective will be to detect and characterise lunar polar volatiles. The mission is a continuation of the Luna-Glob programme.
The Lunar Gateway, or simply Gateway, is a space station which Artemis program participants plan to assemble in an orbit near the Moon. The Gateway is intended to serve as a communication hub, science laboratory, and habitation module for astronauts. It is a multinational collaborative project: participants include NASA, the European Space Agency (ESA), the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA), the Canadian Space Agency (CSA) and the Mohammed Bin Rashid Space Centre (MBRSC). The Gateway is planned to be the first space station beyond low Earth orbit.
The Space Rider is a planned uncrewed orbital lifting body spaceplane aiming to provide the European Space Agency (ESA) with affordable and routine access to space. Contracts for construction of the vehicle and ground infrastructure were signed in December 2020. Its maiden flight is currently scheduled for the third quarter of 2025.
The Artemis program is a Moon exploration program that is led by the United States' National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) and was formally established in 2017 via Space Policy Directive 1. The Artemis program is intended to reestablish a human presence on the Moon for the first time since the Apollo 17 Moon mission in 1972. The program's stated long-term goal is to establish a permanent base on the Moon to facilitate human missions to Mars.
HERACLES is a planned robotic transport system to and from the Moon by Europe (ESA), Japan (JAXA) and Canada (CSA) that will feature a lander called the European Large Logistic Lander, a Lunar Ascent Element, and a rover. The lander can be configured for different operations such as up to 1.5 tons of cargo delivery, sample-returns, or prospecting resources found on the Moon.
Redwire Corporation is an American aerospace manufacturer and space infrastructure technology company headquartered in Jacksonville, Florida. The company was formed on June 1, 2020 by the private equity firm AE Industrial Partners.
Starlab is a planned LEO commercial space station, which is expected to launch no earlier than 2028. It is currently being designed by Starlab Space, a joint venture between Voyager Space and Airbus. It is planned to be launched before the decommissioning of the ISS.
The Lunar I-Hab is designed as a habitat module of the Lunar Gateway station, to be built by the European Space Agency (ESA) in collaboration with the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency, or JAXA. The I-HAB will have a maximum launch mass of 10,000 kg (22,000 lb) and provide a habitable volume of 10 m3 (350 cu ft).
The Exploration Company is a European spacecraft manufacturer. Based in Munich, Germany and Bordeaux, France, the company develops, manufactures and operates the Nyx space capsule for space agencies and space stations as well as both space and non-space companies in other industries. Although the company's first missions will be cargo missions, Nyx is designed to ultimately also be able to carry humans.
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