ESA's first lunar rover MAGPIE signed for 2029 Moon launch
The European Space Agency (ESA) and ispace-Europe signed an agreement for MAGPIE, ESA's first lunar rover, during a ceremony in Copenhagen on February 9, 2026. The rover is designed to operate for roughly 10 Earth days and will explore the Moon's south pole to detect water and other volatiles and analyse lunar subsurface geology, equipped with a drill, volatile analyser, ground-penetrating radar, and neutron detector. MAGPIE is planned to launch in 2029 aboard ispace's Mission 4 lunar lander through a collaboration between ESA and Japan's JAXA.
