Although the Luxembourgish rover Tenacious failed to touch down, the Grand Duchy continues to look at the Moon with ambition. Two new missions are already in the pipeline: a rover could launch as early as 2028 with ispace-Europe, while Blue Origin and the Luxembourg Space Agency (LSA) join forces to map the Moon with unprecedented precision.
In June 2025, Luxembourg’s hopes of landing on the Moon melted into the icy landscapes of Mare Frigoris. The Resilience lander, operated by ispace, crashed on the lunar surface, carrying the rover Tenacious, entirely designed, manufactured, and assembled in Luxembourg by ispace-Europe.
Despite this setback, the Grand Duchy has not abandoned its lunar ambitions. Two new Luxembourg-involved missions are targeting Earth’s natural satellite, with the same focus: the search for exploitable space resources, in line with the government’s “Space Resources” strategy established in 2016, which provided the country with highly favourable legislation for space resource utilisation.
ispace-Europe has not been discouraged and intends to send a rover to the Moon once more. The Luxembourg-based company will not go it alone: it will be accompanied by its European partners in the MAGPIE consortium (Mission for Advanced Geophysics and Polar Ice Exploration), led by ispace-Europe, supported by the European Space Agency (ESA), and including partners from Germany, Poland, the Czech Republic, and Norway.
Once on the lunar surface, this new rover, benefiting from the technology developed for Tenacious, will study the presence of water ice, map hydrogen distribution, and analyse the geological history of its surroundings. To achieve this, it will be equipped with a suite of scientific instruments: a drill to analyse regolith samples for water content, a neutron spectrometer for hydrogen detection, a ground-penetrating radar to map subsurface layers, and a data processing unit to manage and transmit results.
The second mission involves Blue Origin, the space enterprise of billionaire Amazon founder Jeff Bezos. The American company, which established a presence in Luxembourg in June, announced in late September a collaboration with the Luxembourg Space Agency (LSA), the European Space Resources Innovation Centre (ESRIC) based in the Grand Duchy, and the Danish company GOMSpace.
The mission, named Oasis-1, aims to map lunar resources from orbit. Specifically, Oasis-1 seeks to produce “the most detailed high-resolution maps to date” of lunar water ice, helium-3, radionuclides, rare earth elements, and precious metals.
To achieve this, the mission will adopt an “ultra-low polar orbit,” explains the LSA, enabling “unprecedented spatial resolution, impossible with traditional high-altitude orbiters.”
The mission will also rely on technologies such as neutron spectroscopy to quantify subsurface water ice down to a depth of one metre, magnetometers to detect metals, and multispectral imaging for helium-3 and geological mapping.
These two missions are part of a global rush toward lunar resources. Superpowers such as the United States and China are competing to be the first to set foot on the Moon again, while other nations, including India and Japan, are positioning themselves with significant ambitions in this race.
Lunar resources are crucial for enabling sustainable human presence on the Moon. Water is essential not only for life but also for producing rocket fuel. Extracting it from the Moon is far simpler and less expensive than transporting it from Earth. Solar energy is equally valuable, offering both milder temperatures and a source of renewable energy.
The Moon’s south pole is particularly coveted. It hosts one of the largest asteroid impact sites, where permanently shadowed craters contain water ice, while nearby ridges, peaks, and crater rims are almost continuously bathed in sunlight.
“The MAGPIE mission is scientifically invaluable yet operationally challenging”
ispace-Europe has chosen the south pole region for the MAGPIE mission, identifying it as “scientifically invaluable yet operationally challenging.” The mission aims to provide “essential knowledge for sustainable, in situ exploration of resources,” marking “the first European mission to prospect lunar resources in polar regions.” Its objectives include locating and characterising water-rich zones, understanding their formation, and evaluating their potential for future human and robotic missions.
Oasis-1, meanwhile, is the first in a broader campaign. Mapping key lunar resources from orbit precedes on-site evaluation and in situ utilisation. Ultimately, Oasis aims to convert water ice and regolith into usable products, oxygen, hydrogen, fuel, solar cells, electrical cabling, to “support local energy production on the lunar surface, advanced in-space manufacturing, and clean energy systems.”
The overarching goal is to transform the Moon into a genuine extraterrestrial refuelling station for orbital destinations and deep-space missions. By producing fuel and construction materials from lunar resources, the Oasis project could “reduce deep-space mission costs by up to 90%” and “enable the establishment of permanent lunar settlements.”
By then, Luxembourg may have already achieved the feat of driving its first rover across the lunar surface. If timelines hold, the MAGPIE launch is scheduled for 2028.
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