OHB discloses ESA lunar power station study contract

(SpaceEnergy) German space technology group OHB has disclosed a European Space Agency contract to study a shared lunar power station designed to support scientific instruments through the Moon's two-week night.

OHB System AG will lead feasibility and preliminary design studies for the Outpost for Advanced Scientific Investigation Station (OASIS), a proposed lunar infrastructure platform combining electricity supply, communications and data services.

The European Space Agency (ESA) envisages a modular system that generates electricity using solar arrays during lunar daylight and stores energy in batteries to maintain essential operations during darkness.

ESA's preliminary design specifies at least 75W of continuous power during the lunar day and 15W during the lunar night.

The proposed architecture includes a service station with a separate battery unit, alongside connections for instruments mounted on the lander and equipment deployed on the lunar surface.

OHB is responsible for the overall system concept, working with partners on requirements and preliminary design.

The infrastructure could support multiple scientific payloads without each carrying independent power storage and lunar-night survival systems, potentially reducing spacecraft mass and mission costs.

One prospective user is the Environment Characterisation and Heliophysics Observatory, which would investigate charged particles, lunar dust and other environmental conditions.

ESA's reference architecture envisages delivery aboard its Argonaut lunar lander, launched by Ariane 6, with communications supported by the Moonlight network.

OHB said the studies are already under way. Neither the original contract award date nor its financial value was disclosed.

The announcement concerns feasibility and design work, not a completed power system or approved lunar deployment.