Research meets industry: An autonomous lunar rover for space exploration

From start-up culture to industry giants, every company wanting to maintain a competitive edge should prioritise their innovative capacity, wherein lies research at its core. This is where partnerships between industry and research demonstrate their strongest potential: companies have access to brilliant scientific minds and new perspective, while the scientists see the direct industrial impact and applicability of their research, thus shaping them for a career suitable for both industry and academia.

In this article, we speak to PhD researcher Philippe Ludivig and ispace Europe, who, as part of an Industrial Fellowship between the space exploration company and the University of Luxembourg’s SnT, have joined forces. The goal of they research project is to teach a small lunar rover how to find its way around on the Moon, so that it can take decisions autonomously.