UK-based satellite company SSTL has announced that it has begun the implementation phase of its Lunar data-relay spacecraft project, Lunar Pathfinder. The project, scheduled for launch in 2022, will be used by Moon missions to relay their data and telemetry back to Earth. Satellites do this already at Mars, connecting surface rovers with scientists and engineers back home.
Lunar Pathfinder
Photo: SSTL
The construction of the satellite is being finacned by SSTL but it will sell its telecoms services under a contract with the European Space Agency (ESA).and it is hoped that space agencies, government bodies and private companies will also purchase capacity.
The Moon has been put back on the map recently with the US making moves to put humans back on the surface - 50 years after Apollo. Nasa's Project Artemis has scheduled 2024 for when the "first woman and the next man" will touch down on the lunar surface.
The 280 kg satellite will be placed into a highly elliptical orbit, giving it long periods of visibility. Lunar Pathfinder will be especially useful for any missions to the Moon's "dark side", which is beyond the reach of direct radio transmission with Earth.
The SSTL mission will make connections possible, and this could allow for smaller, lower cost lunar projects that would otherwise have to procure their own telecoms system.
Phil Brownnett, SSTL’s Managing Director said: “Lunar Pathfinder will be the first commercial service to address the need for data relay around the Moon, and will not only demonstrate an innovative business idea, but we fully expect it to also stimulate the emerging Lunar market. By pioneering a commercial solution and service delivery model in lunar orbit, SSTL and ESA are opening the door to providing services to the solar system, and contributing to the scientific progress of deep space exploration.”
Lunar Pathfinder
Goonhilly teleport in Cornwall, with its large radio dishes, is expected to act as the uplink/downlink station.
Guildford-based SSTL is financing the project partly from money invested by the UK government in ESA at its recent Ministerial Council in Seville, Spain.
”The Moon is a cornerstone of ESA’s exploration strategy,” said David Parker, ESA’s director of human and robotic exploration, “this decade we will see humans and robots visit uncharted territory and return with new discoveries, communications is key to send scientific and operational data to Earth.”
“We are returning to the Moon with commercial and international partners, and the Lunar Pathfinder mission will be an integral part.”
In parallel to the Lunar Pathfinder mission, SSTL has been working on future plans for a constellation of spacecraft around the Moon, capable of providing enhanced communications, as well as navigation services for the Lunar market as it grows from exploration to commercial exploitation and even tourism.
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