17 Jan, 2025
LUXEMBOURG – January 17, 2025 – ispace EUROPE S.A. (ispace-EUROPE), a lunar exploration and resources development company based in Luxembourg, welcomed Luc Frieden, Prime Minister of Luxembourg, to its facilities to mark the historic launch of the SMBC x HAKUTO-R Venture Moon Mission 2 featuring the RESILIENCE lunar lander and TENACIOUS micro rover.
Prime Minister Luc Frieden (middle) with ispace-EUROPE employees at their facility in Luxembourg.
Prime Minister Frieden toured the ispace-EUROPE facility, watched the live coverage of Mission 2 with ispace-EUROPE staff, and was briefed about the operations that are ongoing and will occur once the TENACIOUS micro rover is deployed from the RESILIENCE lander on the lunar surface.
“We are honored to welcome the Prime Minister on such an historic day to mark the launch of Mission 2,” said Julien Lamamy, CEO of ispace-Europe. “The government of Luxembourg has been extremely supportive of ispace throughout the years and we are proud of the TENACIOUS rover, Europe’s first to launch to the Moon.”
“It was a fascinating and proud moment for me to witness the launch of the first European Rover, made in Luxembourg, by ispace,’’ Prime Minister Frieden said. “This historic moment for the company is also a demonstration of our excellent ecosystem, know-how and good collaboration with Japan. Innovation is the key to our competitiveness.”
ispace-EUROPE is the European entity of ispace inc. (ispace), located in Luxembourg. ispace-EUROPE was established in March 2017, under a cooperative agreement with the Government of Luxembourg’s SpaceResources.lu initiative to support the commercialization of space resource development. With this initiative, Luxembourg aims to become a European hub for space resource exploration and utilization.
TENACIOUS Micro Rover
The TENACIOUS micro rover is 26 cm tall, 31.5 cm wide, 54 cm long, and weighs approximately 5 kg. It is stored in the payload bay at the top of the RESILIENCE lunar lander and will use a deployment mechanism to land on the Moon’s surface after touch down. It is designed to be lightweight with a frame made of carbon fiber-reinforced plastics (CFRP) to withstand the rocket launch and other vibrations during transit to the lunar surface.
The rover is equipped with a forward-mounted HD camera that can capture images on the lunar surface. The wheels are shaped in such a way so that the rover can traverse lunar regolith in a stable manner. Commands and data will be sent and received from the mission control center via the lander.
TENACIOUS was developed with co-funding from the Luxembourg Space Agency through a European Space Agency contract with the Luxembourg National Space Programme, LuxIMPULSE.
About ispace-EUROPE
ispace-EUROPE, a lunar exploration and resource development company based in Luxembourg, focuses on the development of lunar rovers. It is responsible for the first-ever European designed, manufactured, and assembled lunar rover. With its world-class talent, robotics capabilities, and connections to the Luxembourg ecosystem, ispace-Europe is uniquely positioned to accelerate the creation of a lunar industry in Europe and serve the needs of the growing institutional and commercial customers.