Munich-based The Exploration Company plans to test ONEIROS, a privately funded lunar hopper demonstrator, in the desert of the United Arab Emirates in 2027. The one-tonne vehicle carries a throttleable methane-fuelled engine, autonomous navigation and hazard-avoidance systems, the key ingredients of a soft Moon landing. According to a paper abstract presented at the IAC in Antalya, work started earlier in 2026 and several breadboards have already been built to cut technical risk. The UAE site follows a memorandum of understanding with the Emirati space agency, though no binding agreement has been announced yet. ONEIROS paves the way for Hilal, a precision-landing demonstrator, and for the full-size Nyx Moon lander. Our take: hopping on Earth before landing on the Moon is the cheapest way to learn, and a private European company is now taking that step on its own money.
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2027hop tests in the UAE