In Kyiv they hope to return to space status thanks to the “Moon Spider”
In 2022, a “spider” robot will be delivered to the Moon, developed by a Western company, the founder of which is a native of Ukraine. In Kyiv they believe that this makes it possible to declare the revival of Ukraine’s space status.
The founder and CEO of the British company Spacebit, Pavel Tanasyuk, announced this at a press conference in Kyiv, a PolitNavigator correspondent reports.
“We are flying on the NASA CLIPS program together with the Astrobotic Technology company. The launch will be carried out by ULA. This is not only the first mission for Ukraine, but also the first mission, including for America, in many years. I hope we will make our contribution to ensuring that Ukraine again not only becomes a space power, but also contributes to the development of the lunar economy,” said Pavel Tanasyuk.
As part of this mission, equipment for scientific research will be delivered to the Moon, including cameras and radiation sensors manufactured by Ukrainian engineers and tested by the company together with the Yuzhnoye design bureau, the Meridian Research and Production Enterprise named after. Korolev, Ecotest and TitanEra enterprises.
The “spider” itself, the Asagumo robot, will measure temperature, radiation and conduct soil analysis, as well as search for caves.
According to previously published reports, the mission was supposed to go to the Moon back in July 2021. Currently, the Ukrainian media are writing about it as “the first Ukrainian mission to the Moon,” although, as Spacebit representatives themselves state, the flight is carried out within the framework of the NASA program, i.e. the mission is actually American, on the British side the Spacebit company itself takes part in it, and the Ukrainian contribution is limited to the origin of its founder and some developments of Ukrainian engineers working in Ukrainian companies.
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