AGH University on its way to the Moon – agreement with Orbital Space

The contract is an outcome of the AGH Lunar Technologies’ success at the „Experiment on the Moon: Lunar Payload Mission” competition organised in May 2023 by Orbital Space. The AGH University Student Research Club won defeating over 400 projects from all over the world. The main prize is the opportunity to send a self-designed device to the Moon with the flight being provided by Orbital Space. This will be the first such mission with payload constructed by a Polish team and one of the first collaborations between Poland and the UAE in the space sector.

To enable the development and improvement of the project prior to the launch the AGH University has entered into a cooperation agreement with the organiser and sponsor of the competition, Orbital Space. The course of the agreement and cooperation will be coordinated by the Space Technology Centre at the AGH University.

As added by the General Manager of Orbital Space, Dr Bassam Alfeeli:

The cooperation of the AGH University and Orbital Space also presumes undertaking educational activities and initiatives for raising social awareness on the topic of space exploration. The parties to the agreement also take into account the possibility to co-organise workshops, webinars, conferences, competitions, student challenges, and courses concerning the application of space technologies.

„Lunaris” to go to the Moon in 2025

The overarching goal of the agreement is the development of the student experiment “Lunaris” which is to be performed on the lunar surface. Members of the Student Club aim to study interactions of materials and coatings with regolith, i.e. loose lunar rock. Besides the construction which required using quick prototyping techniques, the students developed the electronics and software of the device. The finished payload had to meet certain requirements – dimensions of 10 × 10 × 10 cm and weight up to 200 g. For the research, the optic measuring method will be taken advantage of to understand the interactions occurring between regolith and various materials. Regolith is characterised by high dusting potential, sharp edges, and electrostatically charged particles. These and other properties of the moon dust cause a great deal of difficulty in selecting the right material.

„Lunaris” will be the first 3-D printed lunar payloads, which will allow for obtaining otherwise hardy attainable geometry. The device will be made of a material designed to last in extreme conditions in space. The name of the project, “Lunaris”, was created by connecting two words. The first part is the Latin word luna meaning the Moon. The second one is a nod to the inspiring work of Stanisław Lem and his most renowned novel “Solaris”. The research on the interaction of materials with regolith are vital for the future of Moon exploration. The results of the “Lunaris” project may be applied in the construction of tools, spacesuits, cables and connectors used in lunar landers and rovers, all of which are supposed to be resistant to contact with the Moon’s surface.

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Orbital Space is engaged in the exploitation of space and the development of related technologies. The operating in the UAE company is preparing the first private lunar mission initiated by one of Arab countries for 2025. What is more, due to their focus on space missions and scientific research, Orbital Space is at the forefront of commercial space exploration in the Persian Gulf countries, collaborating both with public and private partners. Its mission is to support academic teams in space research.