On the occasion of the International Astronautical Congress 2024 which took place in Milan this week, the European Space Agency (ESA) officially launched its program Moonlight. It must support the many Moon exploration missions planned over the coming years, whether by space agencies or private companies.
Moonlight aims to establish a constellation de satellites telecommunications and navigation around our natural satellite. The project is based on a partnership between ESA and an industrial consortium led by Telespazio (a Franco-Italian joint venture of Thales and Leonardo), with contributions from the British and Italian space agencies.
Work is also being carried out in close collaboration with NASA and the Japanese Space Agency Jaxa on LunaNetfor lunar communication and navigation standards. Moonlight must comply with LunaNet standards and interoperability tests will take place in 2029.
Five satellites for Moonlight
” The Moonlight program will enable precise, autonomous landings, mobility on the Moon’s surface, while facilitating high-speed, low-latency communications and data transfer between Earth and the Moon “, writes the ESA. An infrastructure necessary for the sustainable return of humans to the Moon.
The Moonlight constellation will consist of five satellites positioned to cover the South Pole of the Moonincluding four for navigation and one for high-speed communications. They will be launched into space and transported by space tug from Earth’s orbit to that of the Moon.
The connection of the constellation to Earth will be through three dedicated ground stations. The ESA emphasizes that a data network extending over 400,000 km will be created. As a prototype for the constellation, a first step will be a Lunar Pathfinder satellite which is expected to enter service in 2026.
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