It is a lunar module that can still be approached without a spacesuit.
No need for a rocket either, for now.
Taking the tram from Grenoble to the CEA stop (for Atomic Energy Commission) is enough to admire this 6 m high prototype developed by the start-up Spartan Space.
“We are developing it in Isère because the technologies are there,” explains Peter Weiss, head of the project for a year.
“We were first welcomed by Air Liquide in Sassenage, where we built this beta version.
Their know-how in terms of fuel cells is very useful to us.
The Grenoble CEA also supports us.
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It is precisely in a brand new CEA start-up incubator that the module landed on its metal legs, which support an inflatable living space.
“We are going to make our sensor, telecommunications and software technologies available to Spartan Space.
Dozens of our engineers will take part in the project”, details Philippe Watteau, head of innovation at the CEA.
“Beyond the engineering aspect, we help think about the economic model.
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The Airbnb of space
Peter Weiss' ambition is to offer future space explorers a lunar Airbnb.
“We are not going to sell these modules but rent them,” says Peter Weiss.
These habitats will be moved away from the lunar stations in order to venture over greater distances, such as mountain refuges.
“The Americans, the Chinese or the Russians want to return to the Moon in the short term, before going to Mars.
Everything is moving very quickly and Europe has a role to play.
We named the
Eurohab
module on purpose”, enthuses this entrepreneur from Munich, who passed through the Comex in Marseille (pioneer of the hyperbaric industry in extreme environments).
Fundraising of several million euros will be done in 2022. Moon landing expected in 2030.
