The AGH University of Science and Technology in Krakow has signed a cooperation agreement with Orbital Space, a company based in the United Arab Emirates. The agreement allows students from Krakow to develop and test the “Lunaris” device, which is used to study the interaction of selected materials and coatings with lunar dust – regolith.
The agreement is the result of the success of the AGH Lunar Technologies scientific club, which won the “Experiment on the Moon: Lunar Payload Mission” competition organized in May 2023 by Orbital Space, beating over 400 projects from around the world. The main prize is the opportunity to send the designed device to the Moon in 2025, which flight will be provided by Orbital Space. This will be the first mission of this type, which will include a cargo constructed by a Polish team and one of the first collaborations between Poland and the United Arab Emirates in the space sector.
To enable students to develop the project and perfect it until the launch, AGH University of Science and Technology in Krakow signed a cooperation agreement with the competition’s organizer and sponsor, Orbital Space. The implementation of the agreement and cooperation with the company will be coordinated by the Space Technology Center.
“We are fully committed to supporting all such student initiatives. They are extremely important not only from an educational standpoint, but also significant for the participation of Polish engineers and scientists in space exploration. In line with our mission, we provide significant technical support, facilitate contact with companies interested in sponsoring the project, and also assist in preparing all mission-related documents,” explains Prof. Tadeusz Uhl, Director of the Space Technology Center.
Orbital Space Director Dr. Bassam Alfeeli adds, “We are excited about collaborating with AGH. We will support the Polish student team in realizing their dreams. Both our institutions are also committed to providing mentoring, guidance, and all possible support to students in their unique mission – to send a payload to the lunar surface. Orbital Space’s mission is to make space accessible to all, especially students.”
The cooperation between AGH and Orbital Space also includes conducting educational activities and initiatives aimed at raising public awareness about space exploration. The terms of the agreement also allow for the co-organization of workshops, webinars, conferences, competitions, student competitions, or courses on the use of space technologies.
The primary goal of the agreement is to develop a student experiment called “Lunaris”, which will be conducted on the lunar surface. The members of the research club aim to study the interaction of materials and coatings with regolith, or loose lunar rock. In addition to the device’s construction, which utilized rapid prototyping techniques, the students developed the electronics and software of the device. The finished payload had to also meet the requirements of dimensions 10 x 10 x 10 cm and weight – up to 200g.
Lunaris will be one of the first lunar payloads printed in 3D printing technology, which will allow obtaining geometry that would be difficult to achieve using other methods. The device will be made from material adapted to the extreme conditions in space. The project’s name “Lunaris” was created by combining words. The first part is the Latin word “luna” meaning Moon. The second part is a nod to the inspiring work of Stanislaw Lem and his most famous novel “Solaris”. Research on the interaction of materials with regolith is crucial for future lunar exploration missions. The results of the “Lunaris” project may be useful in constructing tools, astronaut suits, cables, and connectors used on lunar landers and rovers, which will be resistant to contact with the lunar surface.
