Category Archives: Cislunar Space Development

Friday / 28 February 2020

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CubeSats To Orbit Moon In 2021 To Prepare For Artemis 

NASA Small Spacecraft Technology Program Funds CubeSats For Moon; Lunar Flashlight Will Fly As Secondary Payload On Artemis-1; With Principal Investigator Barbara Cohen, Flashlight Will Examine Permanently Shadowed Regions Near South Pole For Water Ice Deposits; Rocket Lab Has Contract To Launch Cislunar Autonomous Positioning System Technology Operations And Navigation Experiment In 2021; 25-Kg CAPSTONE, Built By Tyvak Nano-Satellite Systems, Will Reach Near Rectilinear Halo Orbit As Precursor To Lunar Gateway

Credits: NASA, Rocket Lab

Friday / 7 February 2020

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SSTL Lunar Pathfinder Data Relay To Provide Communication With South Polar Region By 2022

UK Surrey Satellite Technology Limited (SSTL) Building Lunar Pathfinder Data-Relay; 280-Kg Spacecraft Is Intended To Provide Affordable Communications With S-Band And UHF Links To Missions On Surface, And X-Band Link To Earth; Will Enable Lunar Polar And Farside Missions With An Alternative To Earth-Based Deep Space Networks; Planned For Launch In 2022, Lunar Pathfinder Will Operate In Elliptical Orbit For Long-Duration Line-Of-Sight Visibility Of South Polar Region And Aitken Basin; Sue Horne Of UK Space Agency Talks Of Communicating From Lunar Orbit To Surface

Credits: NASA, SSTL

Friday / 31 January 2020

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Nanoracks And Xplore Announce Plan To ‘Commercialize Deep Space’ Starting With Lunar Orbit In 2021

Provider Of ISS Research, Cubesat Launch And Microgravity Services Since 2009, Nanoracks Of Houston To Partner With Xplore, A Seattle-Based Enterprise Founded By Lisa Rich of Hemisphere Ventures, Developer Of A Spacecraft Suitable For Conveyance To Moon; ‘Xcraft’ Is To Offer Payload Capacity Of 30 – 70 Kg Within 50U Volume, Parameters Which May Be Sufficient For Small Landers In Addition To Orbital Cubesat Instrumentation; Nanoracks Will Contribute Customer Services Including Payload Integration For Moon ‘Xpeditions’ Scheduled For Late 2021; Xplore Has Also Reached Agreements With Celestis Memorial Spaceflight And Arch Mission Foundation

Credits: NASA, Xplore, Nanoracks

Thursday / 9 January 2020

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2020s: International Lunar Decade Commences With Artemis Leading Way

International Lunar Decade (ILD) Concept Long Championed By Space Advocates, Scientists And Entrepreneurs Relies On The Capability Of 6 Major Spacefaring Powers And Independent / Commercial Enterprises: USA, India, China, Russia, Europe, Japan; SpaceX, Blue Origin, Boeing, Lockheed, Others; 5 Planned Human Moon Landings In 2020s And 8 On 2030s Horizon To Be Initiated; Coordination Of These Efforts Within UN-Sanctioned ILD Body Can Accelerate Actualization Of Community And Individuals On Lunar Surface By Optimizing Economic And Policy Conditions; Moon Build-out Is Recognized As Essential Platform From Which Wider Solar System Can Be Reached

Credits: NASA, ESA

Friday / 6 December 2019

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Japan Women Astronauts Among Those Working Towards First Women On The Moon Reality

As 3rd International Moon Village Workshop & Symposium Heads Into Second Day Advancing Interglobal Prospects For First Women, Astronomy And Community On The Moon; Chiaki Mukai (L) And Naoko Yamazaki Among Participants; ILOA-MVA Collaboration Highlights 21st Century Significance Of Women On The Moon With 2019 Essay Contest (Submissions Due 15 Dec); ILOA Galaxy Forum Hainan 2020 China, Cosponsored By MVA, Furthering International – China, Europe, USA, India, Russia, Japan, Korea, Canada, SEA – Moon Build-Out And Astrophysics Effort

Credits: MVA, JAXA, JSF, KU, TUS, XTEND

Thursday / 5 December 2019

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3rd International Moon Village Workshop & Symposium Starts In Tokyo, Japan

2019 Annual Meeting Of MVA, Running 5-8 Dec, To Feature Details Of Proposed ‘Olympic Games On The Moon’ Which Will Offer “Demonstrative Pilot Case Of Earth-based Activities That Can Be Carried Over Onto The Moon”, According To MVA President Giuseppe Reibaldi, Given By Makoto Arai Of Dentsu Inc; Director Of ISRO Space Science Program Office Parameswaran Sreekumar (R) To Present On Indian Lunar Program; CNSA Chief Designer Weiren Wu (L) To Speak On Chinese Lunar Program; ILOA Director Steve Durst To Update On 5 Moon Missions And Women On The Moon Initiative; Workshop Sessions Can Be Viewed Live

Credits: MVA, CNSA, ISRO

Weekend Edition
Fri-Mon / 15-18 November 2019

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Chandryaan-3: India Reportedly Sets November 2020 Goal For Landing Near Moon South Pole

ISRO Second Effort At Soft Landing On Surface Of Moon In Late 2020; Chandrayaan-3 To Be Configured With Detachable Propulsion Module, Lander And Rover; Chandrayaan-2 Orbiter Currently Functioning And Imaging With Onboard Terrain Mapping Camera-2 And Orbiter’s High-Resolution Camera From ~100-km Elevation; Liquid Propulsion Systems Centre Head V Narayanan (R) Leads Inquiry Into Chandrayaan-2 Lander Failure; Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre Director S Somanath (L) Leads Chandrayaan-3 Planning Committee

Credits: ISRO, NASA

Weekend Edition
Fri-Mon / 8-11 November 2019

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France And China Formalize Partnership On Chang’e-6 Moon Exploration And Earth Observation Mission

Director Of CNSA Zhang Kejian And CNES / Outgoing IAF President Jean-Yves Le Gall Sign Statement As France President Emmanuel Macron And China President Xi Jinping Meet At Recent State Visit In Beijing; CNSA Lunar Probe Chang’e 6 To Carry CNES Alpha Spectrometer DORN (Detection of Outgassing RadoN) To The Surface Of Moon; Will Also Collaborate On Development And Deployment Of New Generation Satellite Designed To Monitor Water Cycle Metrics Pertinent To Understanding Of Climate Change; Le Gall Says That Agreement “Confirms Importance Of Space Cooperation In France And China Relationship”

Credits: CNES, CNSA

Tuesday / 5 November 2019

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China Considers US$10 Trillion Earth-Moon / Cislunar Economic Zone

With Chang’e-4 Operating On Lunar Surface And Chang’e-5 Slated For Launch In 2020 On Long March 5, China Is Considering Establishing A Cislunar Space Economic Zone; Bao Weimin (R) Of China Aerospace Science And Technology Corporation Reveals Decades-Long Plan At Seminar On Space Economy; Key Technologies Would Be Finished By 2030 Including Long March 9 Heavy Lift Booster, And Regular Transportation To Moon Established By 2040; Earth-Moon Region Could Potentially Generate US$10T In Commerce By 2050

Credits: CAST, CNSA, Hong Kong Polytechnic University

Thursday / 10 October 2019

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Moon Farside Negotiations Symposium To Be Held By IAA Prior To 70th IAC In Washington DC

International Academy Of Astronautics ‘Moon Farside Negotiations’ On Saturday 19 October Will Feature ESA Director Jan Woerner Giving Opening Remarks; IAA Director For Scientific Space Exploration Claudio Maccone To Report On Efforts To Protect Radio Silence On Lunar Farside; Chief Designer Of CNSA Lunar Exploration Missions Wu Weiren Will Speak On Science Being Currently Conducted By Zhongguo On Farside Moon Surface; Giuseppe Reibaldi And Bernard Foing To Update On Moon-Focused Organizations Moon Village Association And International Lunar Exploration Working Group, Respectively

Credits: CNSA, CSIRO, IAA