Small-cap listed technology company Vection Technologies (ASX: VR1) has today announced that it has been commissioned to build a virtual reality (VR) metaverse platform promoting NASA’s lunar return.
The company, which had a market capitalisation of $87.3 million yesterday prior to the announcement, has partnered with three entities to build this VR metaverse platform called the ‘Lunar City’ – a virtual space dedicated to space travel.
Lunar City, through its flagship project called Travel Space Real Time (TSRT), will allow the public to ‘reach space’ in real-time, and will rely on VR to achieve an immersive experience emulating an actual space journey ahead of NASA’s return to the Moon with its Artemis Program.
Vection Technologies, headquartered in Perth, has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Thales Alenia Space, Next One Film Group and ALTEC to bring Lunar City to life.
The three companies will support Vection’s ambitions with their own expertise; Thales is one of the largest international manufacturers of satellites and space modules, Next One is a film and interactive multimedia producer, and ALTEC is an aerospace logistics technology engineering firm owned by Thales and the Italian Space Agency.
According to Vection, the objective of the MoU is to capture video imaging data from cameras and sensors on board space modules and spacecraft, which will then be transferred to the ground to give Lunar City users an immersive experience while using the metaverse platform.
“While the final objective of this MoU is to capture and showcase the exceptionality of the Artemis lunar program via innovative multimedia technologies like virtual reality, the parties intend to test the technology and commercial opportunities on current space missions with commercial space companies,” Vection Technologies said.
Ultimately, Lunar City will act as a virtual training ground ahead of the Artemis Program – a robotic and human Moon exploration program which is seeking to establish a human presence on the celestial body for the first time since the Apollo 17 mission in 1972.
The Artemis program will also lay the foundation for a sustained long-term presence on the lunar surface and use the Moon to validate deep space systems and operations before embarking on the much further journey to Mars.
Vection says Lunar City will be provided to universities and research institutions to allow verification and remote handling of experiments and to space agencies for Astronaut training.
The same technology will be sold to the public too, allowing anyone to hop onto the VR platform via a virtual ticket or subscription.
“The parties to this MoU share the common vision of leveraging this “space content” to foster business opportunities with space operators and space agencies, as well as broadening outreach to the public for promoting the Artemis Program and the upcoming Moon landing, but also to promote space tourism and the education of new generations through technology and innovation,” Vection said.
Vection said the financial impact of this agreement was not determinable at this time, but anticipates it will be a “material” boon for the company.
Shares in VR1 rose by 7.14 per cent to $0.08 per share this morning. Despite the spike, the company’s share price is still significantly lower than VR1’s historic peak of 28 cents achieved in November 2021.
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