European Space Agency reveals plans to mine the moon by 2025

FRANCE — The European Space Agency will be working with local companies in Europe to prepare for an upcoming lunar mission.

Ariane Group, a Paris-based rocket company, said it has signed a one-year contract with the European Space Agency to prepare for a moon mission by 2025.

The European Space Agency will work with Ariane Group and PTScientists, a German startup to build a lunar lander for the mission.

The European Space Agency plans to mine regolith, or moon rock, from the moon's surface in the next six years, according to The Telegraph.

Regolith covers the entire surface of the moon and is made up of clay, glass fragments, mineral as well as chemical compounds such as iron oxide from which oxygen, water and fuel could be extracted.

SOURCES: The Telegraph, European Space Agency Press Release, The Washington Post
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/science/2019/01/21/european-space-agency-wants-mine-moon-2025/
http://spaceref.com/news/viewpr.html?pid=53602
https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/europe/europeans-contemplating-moon-mission-by-2025/2019/01/21/c7bb1230-1d9b-11e9-a759-2b8541bbbe20_story.html?noredirect=on&utm_term=.c23dccee146c