Investment

Shackleton Rover is conceived as a lightweight lunar expedition designed to deliver meaningful scientific, technological, and strategic outcomes at comparatively low cost. The mission will demonstrate how a carefully targeted robotic exploration mission could provide substantial national capability, and open the door to the lunar economy, without the scale or expense of flagship programmes.

We estimate the required investment to be £25 million across the 2029/2030 funding period. This represents exceptional value for money in exchange for the advances in national capability, scientific return, and strategic presence.

We have just concluded our Requirements Definition Meeting. The requirements will now be passed to a suitably qualified and experienced cost engineer. This contractor will be tasked to create an independent schedule and budget for the mission, to build confidence in our estimates.

Separately, we are organising an Innovation Meeting, where we will capture the value that UK industry would percieve in attaining lunar heritage for their systems.

We will then pitch for substantive funding to deliver against our costings, at a separate meeting to be held in London on 18 November 2026.