Lunar Outpost Oceania Launches New Victorian Headquarters, Expands Commercial Operations

01 August 2025

Melbourne – For Lunar Outpost Oceania, the Moon is just the first step in the company’s commercialisation journey. This innovative Melbourne-based company is developing autonomous systems for complex, remote, and high-risk environments on the Earth, Moon, and beyond, assisted by the Victorian Government through its International Investment and Attraction Fund and Defence Supply Chain Uplift Program.

Lunar Outpost Oceania is the technical lead and overall co-lead of the ELO₂ Consortium, delivering Roo-ver, Australia’s first lunar rover. Supported by the Australian Space Agency, Roo-ver will travel to the Moon around the end of this decade, demonstrating Australia’s capabilities in space, advanced robotics, and remote and autonomous operations.

Early engagement by InvestVic with parent company Lunar Outpost Inc., a global leader in the space sector, helped identify Victoria as a key location for establishing its growing regional footprint in Australia. With a thriving space research and deep-tech ecosystem, coupled with advanced manufacturing capabilities, Melbourne was an obvious choice.

Beyond the Roo-ver program, and with support from the Victorian Government, Lunar Outpost Oceania’s commercial expansion is expected to add 21 new high-skilled jobs in Victoria across engineering, manufacturing and operations. With a development methodology that is dynamic and lean, the company is an attractive commercial partner for companies wishing to apply technologies developed for space missions to near-Earth and terrestrial environments. Adapting to the nature of each project, the company lends its expertise and specialised knowledge to a range of applications requiring autonomy, resilience and remote operations.

“We’re building a portfolio of programs that apply the same engineering principles that guide Lunar Outpost Oceania’s work on the lunar rover – resilience, autonomy and adaptability,” said Gerard Pearce, Regional Director at Lunar Outpost Oceania. “Drawing on our unique capabilities in autonomy and operating in extreme conditions, we’re able to solve complex challenges across defence, communications, mining and other industry sectors.”

Supporting this growing portfolio of space and Earth-based programs, Lunar Outpost Oceania recently expanded its operations in Victoria, opening a new regional headquarters in metropolitan Melbourne. The 1,200 square metre premises combine collaborative office space with highly specialised advanced manufacturing, fabrication and testing facilities. It strengthens Lunar Outpost Oceania’s Victorian base, enabling the company to accelerate development and commercial delivery of autonomous robotic systems designed to meet the demands of space and industrial operations on Earth.

“Establishing this new headquarters reflects our commitment to bridging the gap between technical capability and commercial impact,” said Kathie van Vugt, Operations Director at Lunar Outpost Oceania. “Our autonomous robotic systems are designed for the Moon, but they are built to meet the challenges of real-world industries right here in Australia.”

“This facility marks a key turning point for our team,” said Gerard Pearce, Regional Director at Lunar Outpost Oceania. “It gives us the infrastructure to scale, proximity to industry and academia to support R&D collaborations, and the ability to grow a highly skilled workforce in Victoria.”

“Our goal is to build technologies that deliver value both off Earth and on it,” Pearce added. “By deepening our investment in Victoria, we are building the capability needed to deliver these technologies at scale.”

About Lunar Outpost Oceania

Lunar Outpost Oceania (LOOC) is an Australian company developing autonomous systems for complex, remote, and high-risk environments on Earth and beyond. It is a wholly owned subsidiary of Lunar Outpost Inc., headquartered in Golden, Colorado.

Lunar Outpost Inc. is a global leader in space robotics, lunar surface mobility, and space resources, with an active portfolio spanning lunar, Mars, Earth orbit, and terrestrial operations. The company operated MOXIE on Mars - the first demonstration of resource extraction on another planet, converting CO₂ into oxygen. Its Mobile Autonomous Prospecting Platform (MAPP) became the first commercial rover to land on another planetary body and the first rover at the lunar South Pole. In a future mission, MAPP will deploy alongside Artemis IV astronauts as the first robotic rover to operate with crew on the lunar surface.

LOOC was established in Melbourne in 2022 to build on this heritage within the Australian space and technology ecosystem. As co-lead of the ELO₂ Consortium delivering Australia’s first lunar rover, the company advances innovation in autonomy, mobility and systems design, with a focus on applying space-proven technologies to terrestrial sectors such as mining, defence and infrastructure.

The group is on a mission to enable an extended human presence on the Moon and beyond while harnessing space-based innovation to deliver positive impact on Earth.