Europe intends to actively participate in the development of the Moon, both together with the United States under the Artemis program, and independently, which will require to ensure regular delivery of various cargoes to the satellite surface. The European Space Agency does not have similar modules and initiates the program to develop them. Today, ESA has signed a contract with Thales Alenia Space worth $ 900 million for the development of the Argonaut Lunar Cargo Module (Argonaut).
Image Source: European Space Agency
In the United States, under a contract with NASA, Lunar freight landing modules are developed by SpaceX and Blue Origin. It is planned that the modules will deliver up to 12 tons of payload to the surface of the moon at a time. ESA requirements for future Argonaut modules are much more modest – only up to 2 tons of load, but the cargo can be quite diverse: from supplies for residents of lunar bases to scientific equipment, lunarists and objects of navigation, coherent and energy infrastructure.
The tasks assigned to the lunar landing module suggest its frequent sending to the moon. The modules will operate as automatic stations for reconnaissance, which is especially important for the development of the South Pole of the satellite, as a platform for extraterrestrial observatories with telescopes on board, as nodes of communication and navigation support networks, as a means for generating and accumulating energy, as well as trucks with stocks To ensure the life of lunar missions with the participation of astronauts.
It is planned that the Argonaut module will begin to fulfill its tasks from the beginning of the 30s. The current choice of the Franco-Italian company Thales Alenia Space as a general contractor does not mean that ultimately all financing and programs will go to her. This issue will be reviewed in accordance with current plans and missions. At the same time, the company is already actively cooperating with ESA: for example, yesterday it has concluded a contract worth $ 383 million to create an automatic station for studying Venus. Apparently, the return of heavy and light European missiles (Ariane 6 and Vega-C) inhaled a new life into European space programs.