First lunar rover from purely European production presented

Premiere at the Paris Air Show: this week, Mona Luna, the first lunar rover made entirely in Europe, saw the light of day at Paris-Le Bourget airport –, albeit still as a concept vehicle. The real vehicles are to be built by French manufacturer Venturi Space in the coming years.

This is also one of the special features of the rover: it is to come exclusively from European production. In this way, the European Space Agency (Esa) and the French Center for Space Studies (Centre National d'Études Spatiales or CNES) want to make themselves less dependent on increasingly unpredictable partners such as the USA.

Use at extreme temperatures

Mona Luna is also initially intended for Esa and CNES. Venturi Space plans to deliver its lunar device to them by 2030, which will then also be able to be used at the South Pole of the Earth's satellite. The region is characterized by extreme temperature differences and permanently shaded regions in low-lying craters, while high peaks are constantly illuminated by the sun. Accordingly, Mona Luna has to operate at temperatures between around -130 degrees Celsius and 120 degrees Celsius.

The rover is to be electrically powered and charged using solar cells. It is equipped with three high-performance batteries for this purpose. This should enable Mona Luna to survive several of the approximately 14 Earth days of lunar nights.

Possible scenario: transportation of astronauts who have had an accident

Mona Luna's maximum speed is expected to be 20 kilometers per hour. According to Spacenews.com, the vehicle is 2.50 meters long and 1.64 meters wide. The vehicle, which weighs around 750 kilograms, will also be able to drive autonomously and transport and load a variety of payloads. It is also equipped with a robotic gripper arm for this purpose. Venturi Space is also talking about an emergency scenario in which the rover could theoretically transport astronauts who have had an accident. There are corresponding feasibility studies at Esa and CNES.

According to Venturi Space, it is also conceivable that Mona Luna could be made available to the private space sector in the future. Here, too, the transportation of payloads to the South Pole is being considered, as well as the use of lunar resources such as helium-3 on site. With this approach, Venturi wants to establish a sustainable, long-term business model for the rover.

Mona Luna is to be transported into space using the European Ariane 6.4 launcher system and land on the lunar surface using the European lunar module Argonaut.

Venturi Space intends to press ahead with the development primarily at its site in Toulouse, France. The company can build on experience from the development of two other lunar rovers called FLIP and FLEX. These were developed together with the US company Astrolab. Venturi Space is currently designing the hyper-deformable wheels with which the rovers are to be equipped. The associated electrical systems are also being developed at a site in Switzerland and the high-performance batteries at a site in Monaco.

(nen)