Luxembourg space resources mission authorisation to ispace EUROPE S.A. for the TENACIOUS micro-rover (2024)
On 22 November 2024 Luxembourg granted ispace EUROPE S.A. an authorisation under the Law of 20 July 2017 for commercial exploration and use of space resources on the Moon: micro-rover operations to collect lunar regolith for NASA's purchase agreement, plus surface exploration, during ispace Mission 2. It is the first and, as of 2026-09-25, only entry in Luxembourg's register. The lander carrying the rover was lost in a likely hard landing on 6 June 2025 and ispace concluded the mission, so the authorised rover operations did not take place.
Facts
- Country
- Luxembourg
- Authority
- Ministers in charge of the economy and space activities (Luxembourg Ministry of the Economy); register maintained by the Luxembourg Space Agency
- Instrument
- Space resources authorizationagrément (mission authorisation under the Law of 20 July 2017)
- Holder
- ispace EUROPE S.A.Named on the instrument as ispace EUROPE S. A.
- Granted
- 2024-11-22
- Recorded status
- GrantedLuxembourg Space Agency register lists the authorisation dated 22 November 2024; confirmed by Luxembourg's COPUOS statement (May 2025) and Article XI notification A/AC.105/1363. No revocation found. Current validity is not confirmed by an official register.
- Linked mission
- TENACIOUS micro-rover (ispace-EUROPE)Flew. Outcome: failure
- Provisions cited
- Law of 20 July 2017, Art. 2(1) and Art. 3 (written mission authorisation for commercial exploration and use of space resources); Art. 1 (ownership)
- Resources covered
- Regolith
What it covers
Register: 'exploration and use of space resources for commercial purposes including micro-rover operations needed for this objective', involving collecting lunar regolith to fulfil a resources purchase agreement with NASA and conducting lunar surface exploration. Article XI notification: activity within about 100 m of the Mare Frigoris landing site; Luxembourg is not a launching State and registers no space objects for the mission. Per ispace, the rover was to scoop regolith, photograph it and transfer ownership in place to NASA.
First authorisation under Luxembourg's Law of 20 July 2017 and, per Luxembourg, the first in Europe for commercial space resource exploration and use, as stated by the regulator.
Open evidence gaps
- Authorisation instrument itself (ministerial decision text, conditions) is not published; scope relies on the register description and the Article XI notification.
Sources
8 sourcesispace EUROPE S. A. 22 November 2024 The authorised mission encompasses the exploration and use of space resources for commercial purposes including micro-rover operations needed for this objective. It involves collecting lunar regolith to fulfil resources purchase agreement with NASA, as well as conducting lunar surface exploration activities.
le 22 novembre 2024, le Luxembourg a accordé à l'entreprise ispace Europe l'agrément pour effectuer une mission d'exploration et d'utilisation des ressources spatiales sur la surface lunaire
il s'agit de la première autorisation accordée en Europe pour permettre l'exploration et l'utilisation des ressources spatiales dans le cadre de mission à des fins commerciales
ispace EUROPE S.A. holds an authorization granted by Luxembourg under the Law of 20 July 2017 on the Exploration and Use of Space Resources
The mission of ispace EUROPE S.A. will be carried out within the radius of approximately 100 metres from the landing location
The approval, issued by the Luxembourg Ministry of the Economy, positions ispace-EUROPE as a global leader in space resource commercialization
the micro rover will use a scoop to pick up regolith from the lunar surface, photograph the regolith in the scoop and conduct an "in-place" transfer of ownership of the lunar regolith to NASA
It has been decided to conclude the mission.