European Lunar Explorer
| Operator | ARCA |
|---|---|
| Mission type | Lunar lander |
| Launch date | Cancelled (was planned in 2014)[1] |
| Carrier rocket | Haas |
| Launch site | Balloon |
| Homepage | ARCA - ELE & Haas |
| Power | 100W solar panels |
The European Lunar Explorer (ELE) or European Lunar Lander (ELL) is a cancelled Romanian Lunar lander. It is being developed by ARCA, as an entrant for the Google Lunar X Prize.
Fully fuelled, it has a mass of 400 kilograms, including two upper stages that will be used to propel it from low Earth orbit onto a trajectory towards the Moon. The lander itself has a monopropellant cold rocket engine, fuelled by hydrogen peroxide, which will be used to slow its descent towards the surface of the Moon. The target landing site is Montes Carpatus. After landing, the spacecraft is designed to travel 500 metres in order to explore its landing site.
ELL is the part of the spacecraft that will actually land on the Moon, while ELE is the complete spacecraft, including the two stages that will propel it from low Earth orbit to a trans-lunar trajectory.
References
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