{"id":918981,"date":"2026-10-07T04:24:10","date_gmt":"2026-10-07T04:24:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/918981\/"},"modified":"2026-10-07T04:24:10","modified_gmt":"2026-10-07T04:24:10","slug":"the-latest-prototype-of-australias-42-million-2030-moon-rover-has-been-revealed","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/918981\/","title":{"rendered":"The latest prototype of Australia&#8217;s $42 million 2030 Moon rover has been revealed"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>It looks like the love child of a lawn mower and pool cleaner, but the latest evolution of the Australian-made \u201cRoo-ver\u201d lunar rover has a considerably bigger backyard to explore.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The land drone, part of an <a href=\"https:\/\/www.space.gov.au\/news-and-media\/nasa-selects-intuitive-machines-to-carry-australian-roover-to-the-moon\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener nofollow\">Australian-led NASA mission to the lunar South Pole in 2030<\/a>, was revealed Queensland University of Technology\u2019s Lunar Testbed and Space Lab today during World Space Week.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The model is one of several being used to test and refine the design before it faces lunar conditions, which include dust and radiation, and temperatures ranging from minus 246\u00b0C to 121\u00b0C.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The Brisbane-based ELO\u2082 consortium developing Roo-ver, co-led by grantee EPE Oceania and technical lead Lunar Outpost Oceania, brings together startups, miner BHP, several universities and deep tech startups in advanced manufacturing and robotics, and is backed by around $42 million through the Australian Space Agency\u2019s Moon to Mars Initiative.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">NASA has selected Intuitive Machines to deliver the rover under its Commercial Lunar Payload Services program.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Once there, Roo-ver will be controlled from Australia, drawing on remote operations expertise developed in the resources sector. It will carry a NASA instrument to analyse lunar soil, known as regolith, supporting efforts to establish a sustainable human presence on the Moon as part of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.space.gov.au\/australia-in-the-artemis-era\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener nofollow\">NASA\u2019s Artemis program<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>\tGet the best of Startup Daily straight to your inbox<\/p>\n<p>\n                            Want to know the latest in startup news? Subscribe to our daily news and analysis coverage on what\u2019s happening to ANZ startups, investors and the broader ecosystem. And best of all, it&#8217;s FREE!                        <\/p>\n<p>By continuing, you agree to our\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.startupdaily.net\/terms-conditions\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\">Terms &amp; Conditions<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.startupdaily.net\/privacy-policy\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\">Privacy Policy<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Getting around will require specially designed wheels with raised grips, known as grousers, for traction on loose lunar dust.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cRoo-ver is a representation of Australian ingenuity and innovation,\u201d Australian Space Agency head Enrico Palermo said.\u00a0 <\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cWith our sights set on 2030, the countdown is on as we continue testing and refining Roo-ver.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">It\u2019s one of several prototypes and development models created throughout the program and is one of the most complex robotics and advanced manufacturing projects in the country.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" height=\"576\" width=\"1024\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/Roo-ver-coat-of-arms-26.jpg\" alt=\"Roo-ver\" class=\"wp-image-140748\"  \/>Hopefully the moon landing won\u2019t be faked like this photo with non-lunar fauna. Source: Roo-ver<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"It looks like the love child of a lawn mower and pool cleaner, but the latest evolution of&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":918982,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[64,63,120717,3978,44,487003,128],"class_list":["post-918981","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-science","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-australian-space-agency","tag-drones","tag-news","tag-roo-ver","tag-science"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/918981","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=918981"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/918981\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/918982"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=918981"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=918981"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=918981"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}