EUROPEAN scientists aim to make the first private landing on the Moon next year.

A group of rocket engineers called PTScientists has built a landing module and two rovers, which are expected to launch on board Elon Musk’s SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket.

The landing module will be programmed to touch down in the Taurus-Littrow valley, around two miles from the site of the final Apollo 17 mission.

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It will deploy two rovers with the aim of tracking down a Nasa buggy left behind by Gene Cernan, the last man on the Moon.

If successful, it will  mark 46 years since humans drove on another world.
“This is a crucial first step for sustainable exploration of the solar system,” said Robert Boehme, chief executive of PTScientists.

“In order for humanity to leave the cradle of Earth, we need to develop infrastructures beyond our home planet.”