The European Space Agency (ESA) at the International Astronautical Congress, launched its Moonlight Lunar Communications and Navigation Services (LCNS) programme on Tuesday, October 15. The ESA is said to be developing infrastructure to assist with future lunar missions. With this, the ESA aims to offer critical support for over 400 moon missions planned by space agencies and private companies in the next 20 years.
What is the Moonlight programme?
The programme will have a constellation of about five lunar satellites that will allow accurate autonomous landings, high-speed communication, and surface mobility. These satellites will reportedly enable data transfer over 2,50,000 miles or 4,00,000 kilometres between the Earth and the Moon.
Talking about the mission, Josef Aschbacer, director general of the ESA, said that the agency is taking a crucial step in supporting the future of the commercial lunar market as well ongoing and future lunar missions. As part of the programme, the first step will be the launch of Lunar Pathfinder, a communications relay satellite built by Surrey Satellite Technology LTD, in 2026.
The initial services of the programme will reportedly begin by the end of 2028, and the system is said to be fully operational by 2030. The prime focus of the Moonlight programme will be to offer coverage at the Moon’s South Pole, a key area for many missions owing to lighting conditions and the potential presence of water ice within craters that perpetually remain in the shadows.
Global space collaboration
At a time when Nasa’s Artemis programme plans to get astronauts back to the moon, the ESA is actively involved in contributing to the Artemis’ Gateway project. Europe reportedly also has plans to land its Argonaut spacecraft on the moon by 2031. According to Javier Benedicto, ESA’s director of navigation, the recently signed Moonlight agreement forms the foundation for future navigation systems around and on the Moon’s surface.
The programme will involve numerous ESA directorates who will engage with a wide range of nations along with various industrial partners. The key advantage of Moonlight’s communications infrastructure is that it will likely reduce the need for standalone communication systems, enabling mission teams to focus more on astronauts and robotics.
As part of the programme, the ESA is working with NASA and the Japanese space Agency JAXA on LunaNet, which is essentially a framework to standardise communication and navigation for the Moon. The agency also hopes to build on the technologies and lessons learned from this mission to develop Mars Communication and Navigation Infrastructure (MARCONI) for future Mars missions.
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