Australia signs deal with Nasa to send an Australian-built rover to the moon

The mission will draw on Australian expertise in the mining sector to aid the development of the $50m rover, which will collect lunar soil to help establish a human presence on the moon

Nasa wants to extract oxygen from the soil, known as regolith, in what it regards as “a key step” towards establishing a sustainable human presence on the moon and supporting its future missions to Mars.

A new ad by the Australian Space Agency touts the deal.

Australia is at the cutting-edge of robotics technology and systems for remote operations, which are going to be central to setting up a sustainable presence on the moon and eventually supporting human exploration of Mars.

Enrico Palermo

Head of the Australian Space Agency