Roo-ver will be Australia's first lunar rover , and it's being designed, built and tested in Australia. The suitcase-sized rover will travel to the Moon on a NASA-funded commercial lander around the end of this decade. The entire mission will last just over 14 Earth days - plus time in transit to the Moon. The Roo-ver Mission will showcase Australia's advanced capabilities in extreme environment robotics and remote operations. This mission is already providing a foundation for the next generation now through training for new high-tech jobs. Most importantly, it is inspiring people, driving excitement around STEM careers and accelerating the Australian space industry.
Swinburne is playing a key role in the design and construction of Roo-ver, through its involvement in the ELO2 Consortium . ELO2 is a collaboration between startups, SMEs, major resources companies, research partners, and leading Australian universities.
Swinburne's Space Technology and Industry Institute (STII) combines internationally competitive capabilities from advanced manufacturing, space science, artificial intelligence and resource processing to tackle challenges at the forefront of human understanding and imagination. Swinburne is contributing to the Roo-ver Mission in two critical areas: lunar dust mitigation and space radiation evaluation. The project is being overseen by STII's Co-Directors Dr Rebecca Allen and Associate Professor Andrew Ang , with Associate Professor Jeremy Brown leading the radiation effects team and Dr Michelle Dunn leading the lunar dust mitigation team. Former Associate Director for Extreme Environments, Simon Stack, was integral to the partnership agreement.
Meet the radiation effects team
Space radiation poses a serious risk to mission success, as high-energy particles from the Sun and deep space can damage electronic components, degrade communication systems and compromise overall mission reliability. The radiation effects program team is modelling radiation exposure during transit and lunar surface operations, and conducting radiation effects testing on critical electronics to ensure Roo-ver can withstand the harsh space environment.
Associate Professor Jeremy Brown, Radiation Effects Program Leader
Associate Professor of Applied Nuclear Physics
Associate Professor Jeremy Brown is a mid-career researcher who established and leads both Swinburne's Applied Nuclear Physics Lab and Space Technology and Industry Institute's space radiation effects program. Developed over a career spanning academia and industry in Australia, the Netherlands and the UK, his expertise spans a wide range of fields related to applied particle and nuclear physics, including space science.
Within the Roo-ver Mission, Professor Jeremy Brown leads the radiation effects program. In addition, he is passionate about training and mentoring the next generation of engineering and scientific researchers across ELO2. He believes that the Roo-ver Mission is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to upskill the Australian space industry through the transfer of the skills he's gained working with world leading experts from CERN, ESA and NASA.
Dr Matthew Large, Postdoctoral Fellow Radiation Modelling
Postdoctoral Fellow
Dr Matthew Large is an early-career researcher. His work builds on his past postdoctoral position at Swinburne and his PhD thesis titled "Advanced Methods for Radiation Protection in Medical and Space Applications", which was awarded in 2024 at the University of Wollongong. Through his previous work, he's developed expertise that spans both computational and experimental space radiation physics. Dr Large has a proven track record in the development, construction, and deployment of lightweight structural panels for small satellites in Low Earth Orbit.
Dr Matthew Large is responsible for development and deployment of Swinburne's computational modelling tools for the Roo-ver Mission. These tools, deployed on Swinburne's OzStar supercomputer, can rapidly and accurately assess the impact of space radiation that Roo-ver experiences during different trans-lunar injection and lunar surface mission profiles. Dr Matthew Large has a passion for education and outreach, leading him to manage the team's engagement with students and the greater community around Roo-ver.
Dr Soon Hock Ng, Postdoctoral Fellow Electronics Testing
Senior Research Fellow
Dr Soon Hock Ng is a mid-career researcher. After completing his PhD in 2016 at Monash University in Materials Engineering, he has held positions at the Melbourne Centre for Nanofabrication and within the Optical Sciences Centre at Swinburne. His expertise spans defence science, materials physics, optics and precision manufacturing.
Dr Soon Hock Ng is responsible for electronics board development, electronic component de-capping and experimental radiation testing for the Roo-ver Mission. He has been the major force behind the development of Swinburne's in-house 24-hour electronics design to de-capping facility. This can design custom electronics test boards for radiation testing, print and populate the boards with components, and undertake X-ray micro-CT image guide de-capping through a combination of acid etching and CNC milling. This facility is one-of-a-kind in the Australian university sector, and among only a handful in the country.
Jayden Rinaldo, Instrumentation PhD Student
PhD Student
Jayden Rinaldo is an industry PhD student with the Department of Physics and Astronomy at Swinburne. He completed his Bachelor of Science (Honours) degree with the Department of Physics and Astronomy at Swinburne in 2024. His honours research thesis was titled "Supermassive black holes in galaxies across cosmic time". Jayden has always had an interest in the intersection of applied physics and space science.
Jayden is exploring the development of new instrumentation and methodologies for space radiation testing and qualification of electronics and materials for the Roo-ver Mission. His work will add to Australia's space capabilities through interactions with major government partners and laboratories. He will work with international partners and undertake an internship at world leading facilities overseas.
Meet the lunar dust mitigation team
Swinburne's lunar dust mitigation team is addressing the impact of the ultrafine grains of lunar regolith, called lunar dust. Lunar dust poses various hazards to robotic explorers, causing mechanical wear, abrasion and solar panel occlusion. Our lunar dust mitigation team will conduct a dust risk assessment of Roo-ver and develop a tailored mitigation solution. Lunar dust is a complex problem impacted by mission objectives, location and infrastructure design, requiring a multi-faceted approach. This work builds on Swinburne's point-charge mitigation technology and incorporates complementary technologies such as surface coatings and electrostatic dust shields.
Dr Michelle Dunn, Lunar Dust Mitigation Program Leader
Senior Lecturer in Robotics and Biomedical Engineering
Dr Michelle Dunn leads Swinburne's Dust Mitigation Program for the Roo-ver Mission. As the newly appointed Lead of Space Robotics at Swinburne's Space Technology and Industry Institute and academic lead for the Swinburne rover team, she brings extensive expertise in robotics, automation and computer vision to the mission.
Her research focuses on applying robotics and signal processing to solve practical, real-world problems, from collaborative robots that safely assist humans in manufacturing, to assistive technologies that improve daily life. The dust mitigation program aims to understand how this dust interacts with robotic systems and to design solutions that ensure Roo-ver's reliability and performance on the Moon.
Professor Geoffrey Brooks, Chief Investigator
Professor in Sustainable Minerals Processing
Professor Geoffrey Brooks is an internationally recognised engineer whose research spans steelmaking, aluminium production and advanced materials processing. With a career dedicated to pushing the boundaries of manufacturing and materials science, his work continues to drive innovation both on Earth and beyond. He is a Professor in the School of Engineering at Swinburne, where he also leads research in extra-terrestrial processing. Professor Brooks also serves as a Program Leader in the ARC Steel Innovation Hub, contributing to advancements in sustainable and next-generation steel technologies.
Professor Brooks is involved in the Roo-ver Mission, having researched the processing of lunar minerals to produce metals and ceramics for nearly a decade. Surveying the geology and conditions on the Moon is a key step in establishing equipment to process lunar regolith for the production of materials required for future human settlements. He has also been actively collaborating with colleagues to address the challenges posed by lunar dust, which is critical to resolve in order to operate machinery effectively on the Moon's surface.
Dr Daniel Ricardo, Postdoctoral Fellow Lunar Environment
Research Fellow
Dr Daniel Ricardo is a space robotics researcher dedicated to advancing robotic exploration, education, and outreach to inspire the next generation of Australians to pursue careers in space and off-Earth industries. He has extensive experience leading and contributing to planetary exploration projects, including serving as a payload scientist on NASA's Atacama Astrobiology Drilling Rover, science lead for Monash University's Nova Rover Team developing life-detection payloads, and educator on simulated Mars missions for school students.
As Senior Judge and Mission Director of the Australian Rover Challenge, Dr Ricardo helps guide more than 500 students each year through full-scale simulated lunar missions. Building on his PhD research into water-ice formation in lunar regolith to support off-Earth resource utilisation, his work focuses on understanding and mitigating the effects of lunar dust.
Dr Philipp Zanon, Postdoctoral Fellow Lunar Dust Mitigation
Research Fellow
Dr Philipp Zanon is a mechatronics engineer passionate about advancing space technologies that enable human exploration beyond Earth while driving innovation that benefits life on our planet. His research bridges science, technology, and industry to solve complex engineering challenges, and he has shared his insights through invited talks across Australia and Europe. Dedicated to inspiring the next generation of space scientists and engineers, Dr Zanon has also participated in numerous outreach initiatives supporting the growth of the global space economy.
Building on his PhD research into electrostatic lunar dust mitigation technologies, his work focuses on developing and testing strategies to reduce the impact of lunar dust to ensure Roo-ver's safe and reliable operation on the Moon.
