Category Archives: International Cooperation

Tuesday / 19 Sep 2023

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NASA Commercial Lunar Payload Services Issues New Award to Firefly Aerospace for Astronomy from the Moon Follow-on

The second Firefly lunar mission launching NET 2026 to receive additional US$18M for frequency calibration of LuSEE-Night payload, with $112M already allotted for CLPS CS-3 task order for Moon far side delivery; LuSEE-Night is a collaboration between Space Science Laboratory and DOE (Brookhaven / Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratories), led by PI Stuart Bale of UC Berkeley, which aims to place a 4-monopole rotating antenna array to probe cosmological ‘Dark Ages’ signals between 0.1-50 MHz; Instrument calibration to utilize Elytra Dark transfer stage / lunar orbital platform, which will deliver ESA Lunar Pathfinder relay satellite being built by SSTL

Credits: Firefly, UC Berkeley

Friday / 8 Sep 2023

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Japan is Latest Nation to Join Lunar Exploration Wave with SLIM Lander on Way to Moon

JAXA controllers guiding US$100M Smart Lander for Investigating Moon (SLIM) as orbital raising maneuvers set to commence, beginning fuel-efficient journey expected to take 3-4 months to reach lunar orbit with 100m-accuracy soft landing east of Shioli crater (13.2°S, 25.2°E) on 15° slope in late Jan / early Feb 2024; Advanced vision-based navigation system and belly landing technique to allow ‘landing where we want’ per JAXA President Hiroshi Yamakawa, capabilities to be utilized in JAXA-ISRO LUPEX polar mission NET 2025, Lunar Cruiser pressurized crew vehicle for Artemis late 2020s, and mid-sized lunar cargo lander early 2030s

Credits: JAXA

Tuesday / 29 Aug 2023

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BRICS Nations Consider Establishment of Space Exploration Consortium

5-member BRICS economic bloc consisting of Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa (with Argentina, Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran, Saudi Arabia and UAE set to formally join 1 Jan 2024) may cooperate on space development per comments given by India PM and Foreign Secretary in the wake of the historic landing of Chandrayaan-3 at Shiv Shakti, ~20° from the lunar south pole; Existing BRICS Remote Sensing Satellite Constellation could serve as ‘base layer’ from which consortium may grow per Secretary Kwatra; Collaboration between China-led ILRS and Artemis Accords signatory India may accelerate USA Moon action

Pictured: India Prime Minister Narendra Modi (T), India Foreign Secretary Shri Vinay Kwatra (B); Credits: ILOA, Twitter / @ani_digital, India Ministry of External Affairs

Friday / 18 Aug 2023

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International Lunar Year Being Fostered by US State Department as DARPA Advances 10-Year Lunar Architecture

US Department of State, led by Secretary Antony Blinken and Acting Deputy Secretary Victoria Nuland, is hosting high level discussions on the launch of an International Lunar Year (ILY), modeled on International Geophysical Year (1957-58), International Space Year (1992), International Polar Year (2007-08); Called for in US National Cislunar Science & Technology Strategy, an ILY would coordinate international developments in Moon studies, specifically geophysical networks, heliophysics and far-side radio astronomy; 1 July 2027 — 31 Dec 2028 suggested by Bobby Braun of JHUAPL; DARPA offering ≤US$1M for commercial lunar service plans under LunA-10 program, winners to be announced at LSIC 10-11 Oct

Tuesday / 15 Aug 2023

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India and Russia Reaching Final Stretch Before Landings in South Polar Region

ISRO Chandrayaan-3 now in 150 x 177 km orbit around Moon with next orbital reduction / circularization maneuver planned to retrofire on 16 Aug at ~08:30 IST ahead of expected 23 Aug 12:17 UTC landing at South Polar Region (69.368°S, 32.348°E) roughly 120 km west of Roscosmos Luna-25 prime landing site at 69.545°S, 43.544°E; Luna-25 operating nominally with stable comms and power following 13 Aug instrument / telemetry check and Earth / Moon imaging, activation of ADRON-LR cosmic radiation detector and final orbit correction maneuver 14 Aug; LOI to occur 16 Aug, while landing may happen on 21 Aug

Friday / 4 Aug 2023

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China Now Accepting International Requests for Chang’E-5 Lunar Samples

International governments, space agencies and organizations are invited to borrow portions of the 1,731 g of Moon regolith collected by CE-5 lander within Oceanus Procellarum (43.1°N, 51.8°W) and returned to Earth 17 Dec 2020; 1-year loans will be granted for both scientific research use and for public outreach / education, with application review occurring every 6 months managed by CNSA Lunar Exploration and Space Engineering Center (LESEC); CE-6 launching NET May 2024 to return first far side samples from South Pole–Aitken basin area between 150–158° W, 41–45° S

Friday / 14 July 2023

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NGO Participation in Artemis Accords — as with International Lunar Research Station — is Essential to Build Lunar Society

Artemis Accords purpose and scope ‘to apply to civil space activities conducted by the civil space agencies of each signatory’ may be amended to broaden lunar community inclusion in democratic fashion, expanding to non-governmental, independent, enterprising entities in addition to ‘government-to-government agreements, agency-to-agency arrangements’; 6,000+ NGOs consult with UN Economic and Social Council under Article 71, which may provide model for Moon; nanoSPACE AG of Lyss, Switzerland is ILRS signatory, International Lunar Observatory Association of Kamuela, Hawai’i seeking to sign Artemis Accords if possible before signing MoU with DSEL for ILRS on 20 July, International Moon Day

Credits: UN, CNSA, NASA

Tuesday / 27 June 2023

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China Advancing Robotic Lunar Exploration Program, Human Landings in 2020s, Public Outreach

10+ years of continuous operation on surface of Moon set to continue in phase 4 of Chinese Lunar Exploration Program with Queqiao-2 lunar orbital relay launching in early 2024, followed by far side sample return Chang’E-6 launching NET May 2024, landing at ~43.0°S, 154.0°W after 53-day trip; First regolith samples from far side will be analyzed under direction of Lunar Exploration and Space Engineering Center (LESEC); Organizational representatives of DSEL, LESEC, USTC inspire youth with Revealing Moon Mysteries, Exploring the Universe outreach program; International Lunar Research Station Cooperation Organization (ILRSCO) making progress on Moon base consortium; CMSA targeting 2020s crewed lunar mission

Pictured (L-R): Science and Technology Daily Host Gong Qian, LESEC Engineer Zhang Tianli, LESEC International Cooperation Department Project Manager Shen Yuduo, USTC Associate Professor Low Jing Xiang; Credits: CNSA, DSEL, UDN, LESEC, Science and Technology Daily 

Weekend Edition
Fri-Mon / 23-26 June 2023

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India Aims for the Moon with Chandrayaan-3 and Artemis / Technology Partnership with USA

Chandrayaan-3 awaiting 8-day launch window opening 12 July at Satish Dhawan Space Centre / landing attempt at 4 x 2.4 km landing area at 69.367621°S, 32.348126°E; Science payloads to be utilized over 1-lunar day mission include Radio Anatomy of Moon Bound Hypersensitive ionosphere and Atmosphere (RAMBHA) to characterize near surface lunar plasma; India to enhance lunar & space capabilities via Artemis membership and steps outlined in New Technology Partnership for the Future section of document issued by White House, which calls for facilitation of technology transfer and export control reform

Pictured (L-R): U.S. State Dept Deputy Assistant Secretary for India Nancy Jackson, NASA Administrator Bill Nelson, India Ambassador to the United States Taranjit Sandhu, ISRO representative Krunal Joshi; Credits: NASA, ISRO
 

Friday / 21 April 2023

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ISRO and Moon Village Association Holding Chandrayaan-3 Student Outreach Video Contest

Under theme Importance of Chandrayaan-3 Mission for India and the Global Moon Exploration and Settlement, in honor of former Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre Director S. Ramakrishnan (L), students around the world in 2 age groups (13-17 / 18-21) are invited to submit 2-3 minute videos accompanied by a transcript and 150-word biography in English; Gold, Silver and Bronze awards will be given within both categories, with Golds receiving free entry to 7th Global Moon Village Workshop & Symposium 6-10 Dec in Kurashiki and Tottori, Japan; Submissions due 31 May

Pictured: ISRO Director of Capacity Building and Public Outreach Sudheer Kumar (M),
MVA President Giuseppe Reibaldi (R); Credits: MVA, ISRO, IAF