ESA Greenlights MAGPIE Lunar Rover for 2029 South Pole Mission

The European Space Agency (ESA) has officially signed the Phase 2 agreement for MAGPIE (Mission for Advanced Geophysics and Polar Ice Exploration), its first lunar rover, targeting a 2029 mission to the Moon's south pole. The rover will prospect for water ice and map subsurface geology, carrying instruments such as a drill, volatile analyser, ground-penetrating radar, and neutron detector. This mission is part of ESA's Moon Explore initiative and is being developed in partnership with ispace-Europe and JAXA.