ispace-EUROPE lands €65 million ESA contract to deliver and operate MAGPIE, Europe’s first lunar polar ice exploration rover

ispace-EUROPE, a Luxembourg-based lunar exploration company focusing on the development of lunar rovers, has been awarded Phase 2 of the MAGPIE contract, the Mission for Advanced Geophysics and Polar Ice Exploration by the European Space Agency (ESA).

The agreement represents ESA’s commitment to funding MAGPIE, Europe’s first lunar polar ice exploration rover and its flight. The contract, valued at €65 million, funds the full remaining delivery of the MAGPIE mission, including rover and payload development, manufacture, testing, transportation to the lunar surface and lunar surface operations. MAGPIE is Europe’s first lunar polar ice exploration rover and its flight. MAGPIE will investigate the Moon’s south polar region, advancing scientific understanding of lunar volatiles, water ice stability and regolith properties while supporting future resource prospecting to enable lunar exploration.

Julien-Alexandre Lamamy , CEO of ispace-EUROPE, said, “ MAGPIE represents a major step forward for European lunar exploration. This contract award demonstrates ESA’s commitment to a new model for small, agile exploration missions — one that combines commercial delivery, scientific ambition and international collaboration.

“ispace-EUROPE is proud to lead the full delivery of MAGPIE, from mission design and rover development through to lunar surface operations and delivery of science data to ESA. This is exactly the kind of mission that can help Europe build operational capability on the Moon.”

ispace-EUROPE is the Luxembourg-based European entity of ispace, inc , the global lunar exploration company. ispace has business entities in Japan, Luxembourg, the United States and Saudi Arabia, with more than 300 employees worldwide

ispace-EUROPE was responsible for the first-ever European-designed, manufactured, and assembled lunar rover to launch into space; the TENACIOUS rover onboard ispace inc.’s Mission 2.

The company also highlighted that the award follows its carrying out of MAGPIE’s Design Prototype Review. Phase 2, which commenced on 1 July 2026, marks the beginning of full mission development, with work beginning immediately towards the next major milestone, the Structural Thermal Model Manufacturing Readiness Review.

Under the terms of the contract, ispace-EUROPE will serve as mission prime, leading mission design, science objectives development, rover development, payload integration and mission operations.

ispace-EUROPE notes that it will be working in close partnership with ESA and the MAGPIE consortium, and deliver an innovative surface mission, providing not only the mission design, rover platform and mission operations but also the scientific data returned from the mission. Sophia Casanova, Senior Lunar Exploration Scientist at ispace-EUROPE, will serve as Principal Investigator for MAGPIE.

Sara Pastor , ESA Lunar Programme Manager, said “MAGPIE exemplifies ESA’s commitment to delivering ambitious exploration objectives through innovative, rapid-development missions and strong international cooperation. By exploring and characterising volatile deposits in the lunar polar regions and searching for water ice that could support a sustained human presence on the Moon, MAGPIE will provide critical knowledge for the next phase of lunar exploration.

“The mission also reflects the growing cooperation between ESA and JAXA in lunar exploration, combining complementary capabilities to address common exploration challenges. Bringing together leading industrial and scientific organisations from across Europe, ispace with MAGPIE demonstrates how ESA’s small missions for exploration can accelerate the development of high-value scientific and technological capabilities while strengthening Europe’s contribution to a sustainable future on the Moon.”

MAGPIE is scheduled to fly aboard ispace’s Mission 4 lunar lander in 2029. In January 2026, ispace was selected by the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) to implement its proposal for the “High Precision Landing Technology in the Lunar Polar Regions” project under the second phase of Japan’s Space Strategy Fund. The technology will be implemented by ispace’s Mission 4.

Enabled through collaboration between ESA and JAXA, transportation of the MAGPIE mission on ispace Mission 4 combines European scientific objectives with Japanese-funded lunar transportation capabilities.