The European Space Resource Innovation Centre (Esric), which was born out of a collaboration between Luxembourg and the European Space Agency (ESA), has set up its platform in Luxembourg. Two of the winning start-ups of Esric’s support programme launched this autumn have decided to join forces on creating a platform on the Moon, where spacecraft will be able to land and take off.

This historic move, which fits in perfectly with ESA's Artemis programme, involves the American company Astroport, which specialises in melting regolith to form lunar bricks, and the Polish company Four Point, which has focused on autonomous machines.

Between them, they intend to build a "lunar launch and landing pad”, also known as LLP. 

Astroport and Four Point are two of the five start-ups selected by Esric in the first cohort of young innovative companies. They were picked out of 33 candidates from 17 countries.

"As the only American company selected to participate in this European programme, we are extremely pleased with our participation," says space architect and Astroport CEO Sam Ximenes. "Thanks to the Start-up Support Programme (SSP), we got to know Four Point and their synergistic capabilities. We look forward to developing our joint skills and technologies to build the lunar infrastructure together."

"Participating in Esric's SSP has given us a unique opportunity to connect with extraordinary companies and individuals who are building a future lunar economy," added Four Point CEO Marek Wilgucki. "Our cooperation with Astroport will allow us to increase our know-how, develop new technologies and foster economic collaborations between Luxembourg, the US and Poland."

This article was first published in French on . It was translated and edited for Delano.