UK to send 'walking' spider robot to the moon in its first lunar rover mission

The UK's first ever moon rover will launch into space in 2021 in a bid to unlock the secrets of the lunar surface. The tiny, spider-esque robot - which will be the world's smallest robotic moon rover - will crawl across the moon to take photographs and gather data. Developed by London-based star-up Spacebit, the robot forms part of a collaborative mission with US company Astrobotic. Nasa announced in May that Astrobotic was to be awarded a $79.5m contract to transport 14 instruments from various partners to investigate the moon's "volatile elements" such as hydrogen and oxygen, which could be used for astronaut life support and rocket fuel in the future. SpaceBit will be one of those partners, sending the rover to the surface inside Astrobotic's Peregrine lander.