The European Space Agency (ESA) is Europe’s gateway to space. Its mission is to shape the development of Europe’s space capability and ensure that investment in space continues to deliver benefits to the citizens of Europe and the world.
Find out more about space activities in our 23 Member States, and understand how ESA works together with their national agencies, institutions and organisations.
Exploring our Solar System and unlocking the secrets of the Universe
Go to topicProtecting life and infrastructure on Earth and in orbit
Go to topicUsing space to benefit citizens and meet future challenges on Earth
Go to topicMaking space accessible and developing the technologies for the future
Go to topicThank you for liking
You have already liked this page, you can only like it once!
The first European device to land on the Moon this decade will be a drill and sample analysis package.
Water is a key target: there may be concentrations of frozen water at or below the surface.
Prospect is designed to penetrate the Moon’s soil to depths of up to one metre, acquire lunar samples, and deliver them to the mini labs hosted by the lander.
Answering questions such as how much water is present and how accessible it is will help plan future missions involving the use of local resources.
Update: Prospect is no longer flying with the Luna 27 mission, but part of NASA’s Commercial Lunar Payload Services initiative.