Roo-ver will be a little robot with a big mission.
The 20-odd kilogram robot will head to the Moon in the latter half of this decade to collect lunar soil, known as regolith.
The Roo-ver prototype was unveiled in Adelaide this year and the completed project is set to be Australia’s first lunar rover.
Australian Space Industry head Enrico Palermo said establishing a sustainable human presence on the Moon was a major focus for the space community.
“If we can analyse it, we can understand if there’s oxygen, if there’s water in it,” he said.
“That’s going to sustain human presence on the Moon.”
The Australian Government has invested $42 million into the mission and NASA has agreed to then take the robot to the Moon.
ELO2 Consortium has been chosen to design, build and operate Roo-ver.
The consortium features 21 organisations and is co-led by Brisbane company EPE and the Melbourne arm of US aviation and aerospace company, Lunar Outpost.
It was one of two consortiums which created a prototype, alongside Perth-based AROSE.
ELO2 Consortium’s Warwick Penrose said the alliance consisted of large companies like BHP, several universities and small start ups from around the country.
“We really have the best of the country leading into support this national mission,” he said.
A big job, and bigger journey
Mr Palermo said Roo-ver would have a big journey ahead of it.
“This is more about the journey than the destination,” he said.
“Work is happening now, dollars are being invested around the nation to uplift those robotic capabilities.”
Mr Palermo said the Australian-first project would show off what the country can produce.
“This really deepens Australia’s ability to showcase what we lead the world in, and that is remote operations,” he said.
Mr Penrose said Roo-ver would play an important role in possibly getting people to Mars, by understanding what resources are on the Moon.
“If we’re going to get to Mars and put humans on Mars, we need to build a Moon base,” he said.
“We have to try and establish life on the Moon. The only way we’re going to get to Mars is build a rocket that gets from the Moon to Mars.
“It’s part of a very complex project.”
While Roo-ver will have a big job to do, Mr Palermo said it would not be returning to Earth.
“Roo-ver will stay on the Moon,” he said.
“It will operate for about one lunar day, which is about 14 Earth days and it has a lot of work to do.”
What’s in the name?
Mr Palermo said there were more than 8,000 submissions for names for the rover.
The chosen name came from an entry by Siwa in New South Wales and pays homage to kangaroos.
It also represents the big leap the country is taking into space.
