It means that the micro robotics firm, which has a subsidiary in Luxembourg, will be able to bid for contracts on delivering small rovers and instruments for lunar science and exploration.

Draper is a not-for-profit which was involved with the Apollo Moon landings. Its team is comprised of space tech and support services for the Nasa programme.

According to a press release from Ispace, Draper will be responsible for providing payload operations and guidance, navigation and control systems for the lunar lander, as well as management of the team; General Atomics Electromagnetic Systems will be responsible for carrying out the lunar lander manufacturing, assembly, integration and testing in the United States; Ispace will act as the design agent for the lunar lander and mission operations, as well as provide high-frequency rideshare opportunities; and Spaceflight Industries will be responsible for launch services including integration, mission management, launch and range documentation and pre- and post-operations.

The CLPS programme, which is operated by Nasa’s science mission directorate, is intended to buy end-to-end payload services between Earth and the lunar surface using fixed priced contracts.

Ispace is one of a number of newspace companies and subsidiaries established in Luxembourg since the launch of the SpacesResources.lu initiative to create an eco-system for space mining in 2016. In September 2018, the economy ministry launched the Luxembourg Space Agency to oversee business development and finance for this area. The newspace sector generates around 2% of the Luxembourg GDP, a figure which economy minister Etienne Schneider (LSAP) in the past has forecast to rise to 5% in the coming years.