Europe – October 27, 2026 -- The European Space Agency (ESA) has commissioned OHB System AG, a subsidiary of OHB SE, to run feasibility and preliminary design studies for OASIS (Outpost for Advanced Scientific Investigation Station), a shared infrastructure platform for long-term experiments and technology demonstrations on the lunar surface.
OHB takes prime contractor role for the OASIS concept
As prime contractor on the ongoing ESA studies, OHB is responsible for the overall concept. It is working with partners on system requirements and the preliminary design phase. The modular, expandable architecture is meant to host scientific instruments, technology demonstrators and robotic systems.
Shared power, communications and data services target mission cost and mass
OASIS is designed to supply energy, communications and data storage to several payloads at once. Missions would no longer need to develop and transport these systems individually. According to the source, shared use of central infrastructure can significantly reduce the complexity, mass and cost of future lunar missions.
Energy generated and stored during the lunar day is intended to carry payloads through the lunar night, which lasts roughly two weeks.
OHB SE CEO Marco Fuchs said Europe is studying not only individual lunar missions but the infrastructure that makes sustained research and technological innovation possible.
Reference architecture links Argonaut, Ariane 6 and Moonlight
In the current reference architecture, the European Argonaut lunar lander could carry the infrastructure to the Moon on an Ariane 6 rocket. Communications and data services would run through Moonlight, Europe's lunar communications infrastructure, initially via Lunar Pathfinder.
The source gives no contract value or study timeline.