***2 March 2021***

The Call For Ideas for exploring the Moon with a large European lander has concluded. We are now moving to the next steps, and are informing authors of the ideas we received of our conclusions and what will happen next. The purpose of the Call For Ideas was to gather novel ideas for ways to utilise the capabilities of a large European lunar lander, and to leverage this information to support programmatic decisions. We are now defining potential missions that could be delivered with this vehicle. These missions are inspired by the ideas and are required to be in line with the international, strategic, and programmatic context.

325 ideas were submitted by authors from diverse areas including the space industry, science and research, and the general public. Lead authors came from 29 different countries.

Ideas were evaluated by Science and Technology Panels. On the Technology side, the volume of ideas and their heterogeneity was processed through scoring, down selecting to a total of 75 and then separating into a number of typologies. For science, 6 overarching mission concept themes emerged from the call for further study, bringing together multiple submitted ideas. In addition 5 stand-alone payload suites were identified as being of high interest. Studies to advance the maturity of these payload concepts are now in preparation.

Several virtual expert workshops were consequently held during Q4 of 2020, providing continued engagement with the science community as a next step following the call for ideas. Subsequently a number of scientific Topical Team proposals have been received, via the continuously open research announcement for Topical Teams, and are being initiated.

The synthesis of the Call For Ideas process led to the following findings and recommendations:

Future mission concepts to be advanced in Concurrent Design Facility (CDF) and/or industrial studies during 2021/2022 are:

• A power plant which could provide energy to a lunar human surface infrastructure
• An In-Situ Resource Utilisation (ISRU) pilot plant
• A biological sciences mission to investigate the effects of the integrated lunar environment on biological systems of different complexities.
• An astrophysical observatory to be located on the lunar far side and which primarily observes in long wavelength radio.
• A lunar geosciences mission, which performs in situ sample analysis with mobility.

A polar exploration mission is also being studied, as planned prior to the call. Inputs from the Call For Ideas have been used to inform the scope of the study.

A lunar cave exploration mission concept is already planned for study and the inputs from the Call For Ideas have been taken into consideration in preparing it.

Scientific payload packages planned for study during 2021 address:

• Polar prospecting
• In situ geology
• Geophysics
• Radio astronomy precursor measurements
• Exposure of biological samples

Over the coming months these activities will be running. Engagement with the science community will be conducted via approved Topical Teams. Tenders for industrial and academic study activities will be via calls released through the ESA EMITS platform, in line with ESA’s procurement policies.

We thank you again for your engagement in the Call For Ideas and for helping to establish the basis for the substantial work that is to come. We will endeavour to keep you informed and engaged as things advance and as new opportunities are released.

James Carpenter
Campaign Manager

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Original Campaign

ESA is looking for your ideas for missions to the Moon that could be delivered using a European Large Logistic Lander (EL3). This lander is being prepared to deliver around 1.5 tonnes of payload to locations from the equator to the poles; from the near side to the far side. Missions deployed by this lander could range from cargo supply to support human missions, to astrophysical observatories, or missions which rove across the surface, dip into shadows or explore lunar caves. This is not a one shot deal. The plan is for a cadence of missions from the late 2020s into the 2030s. The EL3 lander is being prepared as part of the European Exploration Envelope Programme (E3P) in the Directorate of Human and Robotic Exploration (HRE). 

If you could fly your mission, what would you do? Where would you go? Why?

The aim of this Call for Ideas is to gather the best concepts in Europe and beyond, and from these to build a portfolio of mission concepts for study. One of these missions may be taken forward as a proposed mission concept on EL3 at the next ESA Council at Ministerial level. Other mission ideas may be considered for later opportunities. Mission ideas will be used to help define the design of the lander to be suitable for a diverse set of uses and users, from science and technology to applications we have not even thought of yet.

Final selection of consolidated and developed mission concepts, based on successful ideas, will lead to the issue of Open Competition Pre-Phase A studies.  Therefore, your ideas may shape what ESA will look into in the future!

Scope for Mission Ideas - What type of Ideas we are looking for?

ESA is looking for ideas which address the agency’s strategic goals in exploration:

• To inspire
• To create new knowledge
• To grow international cooperation
• To create economic growth and industrial competitiveness

Of particular interest are ideas that address:

• ESA’s Strategy for Science at the Moon (here)
• ESA’s Strategy for Space Resources (here)
• ESA's Technology Strategy  (here)
• Novel and innovative technologies and solutions to exploration challenges; e.g. energy, transportation, mobility, habitation, communication, navigation, resources, radiation, dust, life support etc.
• Engagement of actors from outside the space sector to address these challenges
• Opportunities for international cooperation and partnerships
• Engagement of the public to share in the journey that lies ahead

The primary interest is in those mission concept ideas that could credibly be undertaken between the late 2020s and late 2030s.

The process

A chart describing the process can be seen in the attachment ('CFI process chart'), a description is stated below: 

What we will do with the ideas?

This is the first step of the process: the identification of ideas via this Campaign on the OSIP.

Please submit your ideas here until the idea submission deadline. Ideas can be edited by authors and co-authors until 3 July. Selecting to make your idea visible to the community is a great way to build teams and to mature ideas throughout the submission process.

After closure on 3 July, ideas will undergo a review (see evaluation criteria below) by internal ESA teams, and by a team of external science experts nominated by ESA’s science advisory structure. 

What will happen next following this review?

In the second step the authors of the best ideas will be invited to further develop their mission concepts, with advice from ESA technical experts. At this stage, ESA may decide to group authors together to create mission concept teams where submitted ideas are similar or complementary. There will be a workshop day (date TBD) to facilitate this interactive process.

A review of the developed concepts will follow. ESA foresees to support the maturation of up to five of these concepts, with up to 20,000 euros awarded to each concept team (see general and special conditions regarding eligibility for small award contracts). Up to three mission concepts will be selected by ESA for CDF study.

Study of developed mission concepts

In the third step, up to three selected mission concepts will be studied in ESA’s Concurrent Design Facility (CDF) to further assess their technical, scientific and financial credibility. The mission concept teams will be invited to participate in the CDF sessions working together with ESA. If the outcomes of these studies are positive, successful mission concepts will be taken forward for Pre-Phase A study, for which there will be an Open Invitation to Tender (ITT).

Timeline of the Call for Ideas Campaign

• 29 May: Call for Ideas opens
• 3 July 2020: Idea submission deadline, start of step 1 review
• End of July: Authors notified of initial idea evaluation 
• August/September: Step 1 review outcomes, ideas selected for advancement to step 2
• September/October: workshop day (date TBD) 
• Mid/late October: Step 2 outcomes, selection of up to five mission concepts for maturation phase
• End of 2020: Selection of up to 3 mission concepts for CDF study
• End of 2020 / early 2021: Step 3 - CDF studies begin
• Q2 2021 earliest: Pre-Phase A studies

Submitting Ideas 

Ideas must be submitted using the form seen when clicking 'Submit your Idea'. 

Authors may submit multiple ideas. 

Ideas submitted to Voyage 2050 can be resubmitted, using this new format.  

Authors can choose if their idea will be publicly visible or visible only to ESA and authorised reviewers. We encourage authors to select the option to make the idea visible to the community.  

Example Mission Ideas

• Polar Explorer – mobile surface mission to map the distribution of water ice at a lunar pole and access a permanently shaded crater
• Dark Age Explorer – first image of the cosmic dark ages from the far side in long wavelength radio
• Deep Interior Explorer – a global or regional geophysics network
• Cave Explorer – first entry to a lunar skylight and access to a lunar cave
• Swirl Explorer – first access to characterise the environment in a mysterious lunar swirl
• Bio Explorer – exposing biological models to understand effects of the environment including radiation and dust toxicity
• Cataclysm Explorer – dating the Late Heavy Bombardment with returned samples from large impact basins
• In Situ Resource Utilisation Pilot Plant – first production of useable products from local resources
• Crewed mission preparation - deployment of a pressurised habitat/rover
• Hopper - use of multiple hoppers to enable a lunar lander network 

 Supporting Information

• Description of the European Large Logistics Lander (EL3), see attachment 'The European Large Logistic Lander'
• The European Exploration Envelope Programme (E3P), see attachment 'Space 19+ E3P'
• ESA's Strategy For Science at the Moon (here)
• ESA's Strategy for Space Resources (here)
• ESA's Technology Strategy (here)
• Destination Moon: This 8-minute film gives an overview of the past, present, and future of Moon Exploration, from the Lunar cataclysm to ESA’s vision of what Lunar exploration could be (here)
• The Moon: An interactive web documentary on the why and how of lunar exploration (here)
• The Global Exploration Roadmap (here)
• The ESA Concurrent Design Facility (here)
• Chart describing timeline and process of this Call for Ideas, see above and attached 'EL3 CFI Timeline and Process'
• Future Lunar Communications Architecture, see attachment 'Lunar communications architecture study report'
• FAQs: Frequently asked questions and answers, see attachment 'FAQs'
• EL3 Current Status Update, see attachment
• Typologies that have emerged from the Call for Ideas, see attachment