Facebook
Twitter
LinkedIn
The lander will fly to the Moon and land on its surface assuring the European autonomous access to the Moon
Thales Alenia Space plays a pioneering role to enable the European autonomous access to the Moon
The Argonaut lunar lander is designed to offer versatility in the frame of the Artemis program to deliver cargo, rovers and more, or as stand-alone scientific missions.
Thales Alenia Space's consolidated legacy, advanced technology and long-standing expertise in space exploration puts the company at the cutting-edge of space and human exploration.
Cannes, January 30th, 2025 - Thales Alenia Space, joint venture between Thales (67%) and Leonardo (33%), has signed a contract with the European Space Agency (ESA), worth 862 Million, related to the design, the development and the delivery of the Lunar Descent Element (LDE) for ESA's Argonaut Mission, including responsibility for mission design and integration.
Planned to be launched from the 2030s, Argonaut will deliver cargo, infrastructure and scientific instruments to the Moon's surface.
The first mission is envisioned to deal with delivery of dedicated navigation and telecommunication payloads as well as energy generation and storage system, as European enterprises to explore the Lunar southern area.
About Argonaut
Thales Alenia Space/Briot
The Argonaut spacecraft consists of three main elements: the lunar descent element (LDE) for flying to the Moon and landing on the target, the cargo platform one, which is the interface between the lander and its payload, and finally, the element that the mission designers want to send to the Moon.
Adaptability is a key element of Argonauts design, which is why the cargo platform is designed to accept any mission profile: cargo for astronauts near the landing site, a rover, technology demonstration packages, production facilities using lunar resources, a lunar telescope or even a power station. The project will strengthen Thales Alenia Space's skills in several technological areas essential to space exploration beyond the Moon.
The future space ecosystem requires new solutions dedicated to the transport and return of cargo from low Earth orbit and lunar orbit, as well as crew transport to low Earth orbit. Thales Alenia Space is ready to put in place what is needed to prepare for humanity's future life and presence in Space, laying the foundations for the post-ISS era and meeting new economic needs for research and science.
Argonaut consortium: who does what?
Thales Alenia Space is the prime contractor for the development of the Lunar Descent Element. The overall mission responsibility, ie the use of the LDE and integration with payload, will be the subject of a separate procurement in the future. The Lunar Descent Element is an independent architecture block of the international lunar exploration activities, namely a versatile system to support a variety of missions.
As prime contractor and system integrator of the Lunar Descent Element, Thales Alenia Space in Italy will lead the industrial consortium that will be responsible for the system, the entry descent and landing aspects, as well as the general and specific architectures of the thermomechanical, avionics and software chains. Thales Alenia Space in France and in the UK will respectively focus on data handling systems and propulsion. OHB System AG as additional core team member of the Thales Alenia Space consortium will be responsible for guidance, navigation and control (GNC), electrical power systems (EPS) and telecommunications (TT&C) aspects.
Argonaut lunar lander means a lot to our company said Herv Derrey, Thales Alenia Space CEO. Thanks to this astonishing space vehicle, tons of cargo will be delivered to the Moon's surface, including rovers, scientific missions and many more. This new element of the Artemis program will serve at facilitating long-duration manned lunar exploration missions and will be crucial to increase European autonomy in lunar exploration. The Moon will also serve as a stepping stone for crewed missions into deep space, with Mars being the next stage of the journey. I wanted to express my gratitude to ESA for awarding this new contract to our company. Today's major achievement strengthens more than ever Thales Alenia Space's leading positions in the fields of space transportation systems, orbital infrastructures and space exploration .
We are truly honored that ESA has renewed its trust in our company by awarding Thales Alenia Space this major contract to develop the European lunar lander that will enable Europe to access autonomously to the Moon's surface , said Giampiero Di Paolo, Deputy CEO and Senior Vice President, Observation, Exploration and Navigation at Thales Alenia Space. Today, with its longstanding expertise in space exploration infrastructure and vehicles, our company, in line with ESA's and ASI's visions, has decided to enhance its competitiveness by investing in the development of technological solutions to help Europe achieve its goals. Supplying a significant proportion of the International Space Station's pressurized volume, playing a major role on board Artemis, manufacturing the backbone of Orion's European service module and leading flagship transportation programs such as IXV or Space Rider, Thales Alenia Space is more than ever at the forefront of exploration and space transportation systems .
About Thales Alenia Space
Drawing on over 40 years of experience and a unique combination of skills, expertise and cultures, Thales Alenia Space delivers cost-effective solutions for telecommunications, navigation, Earth observation, environmental management, exploration, science and orbital infrastructures. Governments and private industry alike count on Thales Alenia Space to design satellite-ba
Most recent headlines
05/01/2027
Worlds first 802.15.4ab-UWB chip verified by Calterah and Rohde & Schwarz to be ...
04/08/2026
Dalet, a leading technology and service provider for media-rich organizations, t...
04/07/2026
April 7 2026, 19:00 (PDT) Detective Conan: Fallen Angel of the Highway Opens in...
01/06/2026
January 6 2026, 05:30 (PST) Dolby Sets the New Standard for Premium Entertainment at CES 2026
Throughout the week, Dolby brings to life the latest innovatio...
13/05/2026
New Adobe Premiere Color Grading Mode Accelerated on NVIDIA GPUs
Joel Pennington May 13, 2026
0 Comments
New NVIDIA RTX-accelerated features streamlin...
13/05/2026
Grass Valley announced that dB Broadcast has delivered new IP-based outside broadcast (OB) trucks for Cloudbass, featuring Grass Valley LDX 100 Series cameras a...
13/05/2026
Ikegami will exhibit the latest additions to its wide range of broadcast production cameras, control units, viewfinders and monitors on stand 5D3-1 at Broadcast...
13/05/2026
FISE, working with the founding members of the XR Sports Alliance (XRSA), Accedo, Qualcomm Technologies, Inc. and HBS, have collaborated to develop an immersive...
13/05/2026
Canon Unveils New EOS R6 V Full-Frame EOS Camera and RF20-50mm F4 L IS USM PZ Bu...
13/05/2026
Boston Conservatory at Berklee Honors Beth Morrison and Moses Pendleton at Comme...
13/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
13/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
13/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
13/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
13/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
13/05/2026
Creative software developer Foundry today announced the latest developments on Nuke Stage. A purpose-built application for end-to-end virtual production and in-...
13/05/2026
A definitive portrait of one of Ireland's most influential musicians
New TV documentary airs Monday 18 May on RT One and RT Player at 9.35pm
Watch the...
13/05/2026
Agentic AI is changing the way users get work done. Following the success of OpenClaw, the community is embracing new open source agentic frameworks. The latest...
13/05/2026
Reinforcement-learning agents - AI systems that learn by trial and error - can c...
12/05/2026
Beyond the Hype: A Strategic Post-Hoc Analysis of NAB 2026 If NAB Show 2026 had an underlying theme, it was a quiet, industry-wide pivot from the high-energy sp...
12/05/2026
Guntermann and Drunck (G&D), a Panoptec Technologies Group company, and CT Square, led by Chandresh Shah, have announced a joint venture to distribute G&D and V...
12/05/2026
With 30 days until the start of the FIFA World Cup 2026, Telemundo, the exclusive Spanish-language home of the tournament in the United States, has announced th...
12/05/2026
The NHL has announced the return of Stanley Pup for its third consecutive year, a 90-minute special featuring adoptable rescue dogs competing on a miniature rin...
12/05/2026
NBCUniversal presented its 2026 Upfront to advertisers at Radio City Music Hall, detailing upcoming programming across NBC, Peacock, Bravo, and Versant properti...
12/05/2026
FOX Sports has announced funding for the Fandom and Social Connection Initiative at Harvard Kennedy School's Shorenstein Center on Media, Politics, and Publ...
12/05/2026
TNDV and Live Media, both divisions of Live Media Group, supported live broadcast coverage around NCAA Final Four weekend in Indianapolis, including the March M...
12/05/2026
The European Football Alliance (EFA) has announced a content distribution agreement with Fubo Sports Network, the free ad-supported streaming TV (FAST) channel ...
12/05/2026
For the first time, Spanish-speaking fans in the U.S. will have two separate tel...
12/05/2026
CP Communications led a comprehensive spectrum management initiative on behalf of Churchill Downs during Kentucky Derby week, coordinating RF assets across the ...
12/05/2026
LiveU has announced a strategic partnership with DRONERESPONDERS, a 501(c)3 non-...
12/05/2026
Open Broadcast Systems has announced that BMC TV, a specialist in IP transport of broadcast content, has selected the Open Broadcast Systems 5G Flyaway solution...
12/05/2026
NEP Europe, part of NEP Group, has announced it will deliver broadcast solutions...
12/05/2026
Grass Valley has announced continued collaboration with Ravensbourne University ...
12/05/2026
Stats Perform has announced the launch of Opta Pulse, an AI-assisted video creation and distribution platform for leagues, rights holders, and broadcasters. The...
12/05/2026
FOX Sports has announced a collaboration with Sesame Workshop to integrate Sesame Street characters into FOX Sports' FIFA World Cup 2026 programming. Conten...
12/05/2026
To date, NHL Productions has produced 19 broadcasts with commentary in American Sign Language
NHL in ASL (American Sign Language) may be just one show, but the...
12/05/2026
Google's Brian Albert: creators, athletes, highlights, nostalgia, second-scr...
12/05/2026
A still from Past Lives by Celine Song, an official selection of the Premieres program at the 2023 Sundance Film Festival. (Courtesy of Sundance Institute | p...
12/05/2026
Spotify is where fans and artists come together, turning discovery into somethin...
12/05/2026
Features patented Marco-MMC clocking technology
Black Lion Audio's latest release combines the company's expertise in clocking with their renowned p...
12/05/2026
New Track Panel, sequencer upgrades & more
Following their recent public beta release, Reason Studios have announced the full release of Reason 14. With the...
12/05/2026
One month to go! SBS reveals expansive FIFA World Cup 2026 lineup beyond the pi...
12/05/2026
Rohde & Schwarz presents its advanced solutions for power electronics testing at...
12/05/2026
aconnic AG (ISIN: DE000A0LBKW6), Munich, has developed a modified fund raising p...
12/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
12/05/2026
Tyrell Corporation, specialists in high-end live sports and entertainment broadcasts, was tasked with delivering compelling broadcast coverage of premier equest...
12/05/2026
Registration is now open for IBC2026 as the global media, entertainment and technology community prepares to converge on the RAI Amsterdam from 11 14 September ...
12/05/2026
Ross Video, a global leader in live video production technology, will present its latest innovations and integrated production workflows at BroadcastAsia 2026, ...
12/05/2026
500 selected leaders from around the world across start-ups, corporates, and venture capital. Over 50bn in assets under management among attending investors, a...
Facebook 
