The European Space Agency (ESA) has just announced its plan to establish a network of satellites around the Moon. The project, called Moonlight, will aim to support a permanent human presence by facilitating space navigation around our satellite. It will also discuss preparing the way for manned missions in deep space.
Piloted by NASA, the Artemis program is an international collaboration aimed at establishing a permanent human presence on lunar soil by the end of the decade. As part of this project, ESA will provide essential components, including the communication module for the new space station around the Moon, as well as a communication relay such as the Lunar Pathfinder.
Through Airbus, Europe is also developing service modules for Orion spacecraft that will be responsible for sending astronauts to the Moon.
That's not all. ESA will also support two consortia of companies to develop a network of satellites around the Moon.
Over the next few years, dozens of international, institutional and commercial teams will send missions to our satellite. In other words, lunar expeditions will no longer be punctual, but regular .
This initiative, called Moonlight, will therefore aim to "facilitate this lunar exploration by creating a reliable and efficient telecommunications and navigation network through a constellation of lunar satellites s", underlines Elodie Viau, director of the Telecommunications and Integrated Applications branch of ESA.
A constellation of lunar satellites could for example allow missions to land anytime and anywhere. Besides the inherent navigational benefits, such instruments could also allow researchers to place instruments and other observatories on the dark side of the Moon. On site, the rovers could also move faster.
"But that will only be the beginning," adds the researcher. "This will help pave the way for missions to Mars and beyond “.
This announcement marks the start of a study period of twelve to eighteen months during which ESA will speak with industry players private sector to develop this communication network. If the feasibility of the project is validated, the objective will be to present the plan to the Council of Ministers of the agency for implementation by 2022 . If all goes to plan, the first satellites could then beoperational by the end of the decade .
