Explor Space Technologies, an Australian company which develops healthcare solutions for human space exploration, has signed an MoU with ispace and Stardust Technologies to build a moon rover with a multipurpose robotics arm.
Explor CEO Dr Joshua Chou – also a researcher and senior lecturer at UTS’ FEIT School of Biomedical Engineering – will contribute to the technology which will be launched on an international lunar mission in 2023.
The robotic arm would provide haptic feedback for STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) educational purposes and equipped with a 3D camera, allowing people on Earth to experience the mission in virtual reality.
Explor and Stardust will equip the robotic arm and 3D camera, while ispace will develop the rover as a future generation model.
“We are very excited and proud of this MoU, which again demonstrates the innovation from EXPLOR and the collaborative environment at UTS to support such a great demonstration of international collaboration to accelerate human space exploration,” Chou said.
NSW is home to some of the best and brightest in space technology and advanced manufacturing, according to NSW minister for Jobs, Investment, Tourism and Western Sydney Stuart Ayres.
“We’re thrilled to see our homegrown technology reaching for the moon,” he said.
“The mission will showcase several space technologies and expertise from NSW businesses and researchers ranging from communication, data transfer, remote operation and robotics.”
“This kind of collaboration is necessary to accelerate interest in lunar resources utilisation among a broad spectrum of stakeholders,” ispace CEO and founder Takeshi Hakamada said.
“In order for humanity to succeed in space, it is vital that we establish partnerships such as this one which will ultimately benefit and empower countless of generations to come,” Stardust Technologies founder and CEO Jason Michaud said.
For more details of the collaboration on the moon rover, visit the ispace website here.
