In three years, this Israeli startup could offer lunar flying services to drop payloads on the Moon

As per the company, traditional rovers may not be able to traverse everywhere and perform tasks like their drone-like hopper.

For decades, Earth’s natural satellite has been one of the most popular destinations for space exploration. The upcoming Artemis missions, along with the excitement on establishing a human settlement on the Moon, have collectively boosted the lunar economy market substantially in recent years.

Several startups have been preparing to offer their technological solutions to gain a better understanding of the valuable resources available and provide services to future astronauts.

Among them, an Israeli venture called WeSpace has been working on developing a novel concept for providing lunar flying services. It can fly customer payloads and collect data from remote locations. At the moment, only five percent of the Moon’s surface is said to be mapped, so there are many unknowns.

The company aims to work with NASA on the Artemis mission to provide “Lunar Hopper” services.

Fly to polar regions easily

This hopper would be able to fly autonomously across the Moon’s surface using thrusters. The drone-like hopper would also be capable of exploring complex areas such as craters and underground lava tubes. Additionally, it can drop science instruments at such challenging locations to conduct observation and collect data.

According to reports, it can also hover over permanently shadowed regions, which are likely to be rich in water ice. Constant radio communication is difficult in such places, but this hopper can easily navigate there on its own and generate the necessary data.