Adelaide has hosted the unveiling of the ELO2 Consortium’s lunar rover prototype, demonstrating Australia’s potential to support a future NASA Artemis mission to the Moon.
It is designed to collect and transport lunar regolith (Moon soil) to a NASA-run facility on the Moon, where oxygen will be extracted to prove technology essential for a sustainable human presence on the Moon, and production of rocket fuel to support a future mission to Mars.
The ELO2 rover prototype traversed both a lunar and Martian-like surface in Adelaide through Lunar Outpost’s lunar mission ready Stargate remote operations software, in an end-to-end remote operation demonstration.
The display highlighted the ELO2 Consortium partners from Australia’s universities and industry who designed, built and tested this working rover, in just three months.
The ELO2 Consortium is one of two Australian consortia working on the design with funding from the Australian Space Agency’s Moon to Mars Trailblazer Program Stage 1 with an ambition to land a rover, to be named Roo-ver, on the Moon as part of a future NASA Artemis mission later this decade.
The ELO2 Consortium is a national mission co-led by EPE Oceania and Lunar Outpost Oceania. Consortium partners from across the nation have collaborated on this project, including The University of Adelaide, Element Robotics, The University of Melbourne, Northrop Grumman Australia, BHP, The Australian National University Institute for Space, VIPAC, and Titomic.
“We chose the Australian Rover Challenge in Adelaide to demonstrate the new Trailblazer rover’s capability, and to share the excitement of what’s possible for university students in Australia,” said ELO2 Technical Director with Lunar Outpost Oceania, Joseph Kenrick.
“Over the course of four days, students from universities across the country will learn how to rapidly design, build, and test rovers with functions similar to what will be required on the Moon.”
“A vast majority of the ELO2 engineering team has been hired from former rover challenge teams. Our sponsorship of the Australian Rover Challenge this year is not only an excellent opportunity to meet potential future engineers for ELO2, but to invest in the continued development of students to grow the Australian space and robotics sector.”
ELO2 delivered an initial rover prototype in December 2023. As part of the testing phases, the rover will travel across Australia to various test facilities and make appearances around its testing schedule to engage the public.