The European Space Agency wants to extract valuable resources such as water and oxygen from the moon by 2025.
On its website, the rocket maker ArianeGroup revealed that it has signed a 12-month contract to study and prepare for the extraction of regolith, also known as moon rock.
"This first contract — symbolically announced on the day of a lunar eclipse — is a milestone for ArianeGroup, which has for a long time been working on technological proposals for space logistics servicing," stated Andre-Hubert Roussel, the CEO of ArianeGroup in a statement.
ArianeGroup, together with Arianespace, partnered with two other companies, the PTScientists and Space Applications Services, to carry out the mission. PTScientists, a German start-up, is tasked to provide the lunar lander. Meanwhile, the Belgian company Space Applications Services is in charge of the ground control facilities, communications, and the associated service operations.
ArianeGroup is making sure that the entire operation — from launch to the moon landing — will be entirely a European operation.
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