Statement from ELO₂

ELO₂ Consortium chosen to deliver history-making national project

 

Brisbane, Australia – 17 December 2024 – The ELO₂ Consortium, co-led by EPE Oceania and Lunar Outpost Oceania, is proud to announce its selection by the Hon. Ed Husic MP, Minister for Science and Industry, to deliver Australia’s first lunar rover.

 

The $42 million Australian Space Agency project will see ELO₂ design, construct, and operate the Australian-made rover, "Roo-ver," on the lunar surface. 

 

 

“This is an extraordinary moment for our nation,” said a joint statement from the co-leads, EPE Oceania and Lunar Outpost Oceania.

 

“It is a privilege to contribute to this groundbreaking national mission and to showcase the world-class talent and capabilities of our Australian research and industry partners on the global stage.”

 

The ELO₂ Consortium is an unparalleled collaboration of industry organisations and leading research organisations from across Australia focused on space exploration.

 

The group includes contributions from universities, SMEs, and industry giants, and will harness expertise from all states and territories to undertake the mission.

 

Together, they will pioneer Australia’s lunar exploration by delivering a rover that is fully designed, manufactured, and tested in Australia—demonstrating the country’s technical leadership and engineering prowess. 

 

The selection of ELO₂ follows its remarkable achievements in the preliminary design process, during which four rover prototypes were developed and rigorously tested by the Consortium partners with $4 million funding from the Australian Space Agency.

 

As the Grantee, EPE Oceania brings a 25-year legacy of trusted partnership with the Commonwealth and leadership in Defence, national security and extreme environment robotics technology.

 

Co-lead, Lunar Outpost Oceania, leverages expertise in cutting-edge space robotics and exploration to spearhead the mission’s technical success and support commercialisation of the Consortium’s technical developments from Australia and into the growing global space supply chain.

 

“This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to represent Australia on the global stage and to contribute to the international advancement of lunar exploration,” said the Consortium co-leads.

 

“It will create new jobs in the Australian Space Industry, new internship and research opportunities, and will culminate in an Australian lunar rover being remotely operated on the Moon from Australia.”

 

Work on the Roo-ver mission will develop critical technologies in the national interest for commercialisation and benefit here on Earth.

 

Key technologies under development for the mission include advanced manufacturing, novel materials, extreme environment robotics, AI and autonomous systems, advanced sensors, power systems, communications, human-machine interface for remote operations and thermal management. 

 

Terrestrial application of these critical space technologies build on Australia’s existing strengths in remote operations and resources, building critical capabilities in Australia that can be exported to international markets.

 

Work on the mission will begin immediately, as NASA finalises launch details with the Australian Space Agency. Once on the Moon, the rover will undertake a science mission to understand the lunar surface and support Australia’s contribution to the Artemis Program.

 

For more information about the ELO₂ Consortium or to register interest in employment and internship opportunities, visit http://www.elo2.au

 

For more information about Roo-ver and the mission visit the Australia Space Agency website, http://www.space.gov.au/meet-roo-ver

 

 

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Available for interviews

• Ben Sorensen, Consortium Director
• Joseph Kenrick, Technical Director

ELO2 Consortium Partners

ELO₂ Consortium Partners include 21 organisations, made up of 20 Australian Industry and Research organisations and 1 US University.

Project Participant	Sector	State
EPE Oceania (Grantee)	Industry, Grantee, Consortium co-lead	QLD
Lunar Outpost Oceania	Industry, Technical lead, Consortium co-lead	VIC
Element Robotics	Industry, Start up	SA/VIC
Saber Astronautics	Industry	SA & NSW
Inovor Technologies	Industry	SA
One Giant Leap Australia Foundation	Industry	NSW
Vipac Engineers & Scientists	Industry	VIC
Titomic	Industry	VIC
BHP	Industry	VIC QLD SA, WA
Victorian Space Science Education Centre	Government	VIC
RMIT University	Research University	VIC
University of Melbourne – SpaceLab	Research University	VIC
University of Adelaide – Andy Thomas Centre for Space Resources	Research University	SA
The Australian National University – ANU Institute for Space	Research University	ACT
Queensland University of Technology	Research University	QLD
University of Sydney – Australian Centre for Robotics	Research University	NSW
Monash University	Research University	VIC
Swinburne University of Technology	Research University	VIC
Edith Cowan University	Research University	WA
University of Tasmania	Research University	TAS
Colorado School of Mines	Research University	CO, USA

 

Key Facts:

A range of supporting materials can be accessed at this link. This includes:

• Extensive b-roll footage of the Roo-ver prototype in operation.
• An animation of the mission and Roo-ver being deployed.
• Interviews, including with Minister for Industry and Science Ed Husic.
• High-resolution still images of Roo-ver.
• A campaign video about the Mission.

About us:

About the ELO₂ Consortium

• ELO₂ is an Australian industry-research collaboration co-led by EPE Oceania (Grantee) and Lunar Outpost Oceania (technical lead).
  
  
• The ELO₂ Consortium brings specialised capabilities from across Australia to design, build and operate an Australian lunar rover on the Moon.
  
  
• As a national mission, all Australia’s states and territories will provide contributions to the success of ELO₂ and the development and operation of Roo-ver.
  
  
• The ELO₂ Consortium lunar rovers are certified Australian made, and have been entirely designed, manufactured, and tested in Australia.
  
  
• For more information and to register interest for employment and internship opportunities visit http://www.elo2.au

Contact details:

Jacqui Tyack
ELO₂ Consortium
+61 422 999 088