ESA are planning a lunar lander mission as a precursor to human habitation of the Moon and eventually Mars. The Lunar lander mission is planned for launch in 2018
The mission objectives are to study new technology associated with propulsion and navigation as well as the planetology of the moon. The Lunar Dust Environment and Plasma Package (L-DEPP) will analyse the properties of the levitated dust and plasma in the lunar environment.
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A milestone in securing ESA’s future role in the global exploration of space
NASA has a Moon landing plan—sort of
Over the past 18 months, ESA and its Member States have gathered in a series of space exploration workshops culminating in a discussion in the ESA Council held in Paris on 13 June 2018.
The Council discussed Europe’s ambition to play a leading role in the global exploration of space based on its European Exploration Envelope Programme, (known as E3P) that was created by ESA’s ministers when they met in December 2016 in Lucerne, Switzerland.
To save the cost of developing a new engine, ESA engineers looked to the tried-and-tested thrusters of Europe’s proven Automated Transfer Vehicle (ATV) space ferry.