Request for Information - Lunar Exploration Campaign Science and Technology Payloads
9 November 2018
The European Space Agency (ESA) is releasing this Request For Information (RFI) to gather information on European payloads that could be contributed to a possible lunar mission campaign implemented within the framework of the European Space Exploration Envelope Programme (E3P). This mission campaign is currently in preparation and its implementation is subject to decisions at the ESA Council Meeting at Ministerial level planned for December 2019.The campaign shall enable access to the Moon via missions that may be catagorised as:
- Missions of Opportunity, where European payloads respond to flight opportunities made available by the private sector or international partners.
- Directed missions, where European payloads are contributed to missions, which are defined and driven by ESA, alone or with international partners, to achieve a predefined set of objectives.
In this RFI information is sought which will
- Prepare for the later selection of payloads for flights as early as 2020 on Missions of Opportunity and
- Support the establishment of a strawman payload for an ongoing ESA directed mission study, conducted with international partners, on a human lunar exploration precursor mission (HERACLES) and prepares for a future Announcement of Opportunity.
A document with further details of this RFI can be found under "Documentation", below and in the right-hand menu.
Documentation
Request for Information [PDF, 0.8 MB]
RFI process and timeline
Responses to this RFI should be sent via email to: lunarRFI
esa.int
by 24:00 CET, 15 December 2018.
Respondents are requested to submit their submissions using the outline provided in Annex A, completing all relevant fields. Submissions should be no longer than 10 pages in length, with additional information provided in annex.
Received submissions will be reviewed for technical and scientific content and compatibility with the identified missions.
Where follow up is required individual respondents will be contacted by ESA.
All respondents will receive confirmation of receipt of their submissions. It is not possible to assure feedback in response to all submissions received.
The schedule for the RFI is shown below.
| Milestone | Date |
| RFI Issue | 09/11/2018 |
| RFI Closure | 15/12/2018 |
| ESA Review Closure | 31/01/2019 |
| Submission follow up initiated where needed | 28/02/2019 |