MAGPIE (rover)
Proposed European lunar rover
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
MAGPIE (Mission for Advanced Geophysics and Polar Ice Exploration) is a lunar rover under development by ispace for the European Space Agency (ESA). It will be the first lunar rover mission by ESA. The launch of MAGPIE is planned for 2029 on ispace Mission 4.[1] Its primary mission is to search for water ice in the lunar south pole region.[2][3][4][5][6][7]
| Mission type | Lunar rover |
|---|---|
| Operator | ESA |
| Spacecraft properties | |
| Manufacturer | ispace Europe SA |
| Start of mission | |
| Launch date | 2029 (planned) |
History
In December 2025, MAGPIE was among eight proposals selected for small Lunar missions (announced in 2023) within the ESA's Terrae Novae programme. Unlike the other proposals (e.g. the Danish Lunar mapping satellite Máni) which received €150,000 each to mature their mission concepts, MAGPIE was selected for a direct implementation path.[8]
