ISRO Chandrayaan-3 Moon Mission Will Be Supported by ESA Global Deep Space Communication Network
On track for Q3 landing near Moon South Pole (70.9°S), Chandrayaan-3 may be the first India space mission to take advantage of ESA-operated 35-m (Australia, Argentina, Spain) and 15-m (French Guiana) Estrack antennae as well as 32-m commercial Goonhilly in England, all coordinated by 24/7/365 European Space Operations Centre (Germany); Aditya-L1 solar observatory and Gaganyaan human spaceflight will also utilize Estrack ground stations, as has CNSA during Chang’e mission sequence; In-kind use of ISRO ground stations will be available for future ESA deep space activities
Surrey Satellite Technology Ltd (SSTL) to provide communications spacecraft operating on S, X and UHF frequency bands from elliptical lunar orbit, ESA is first major customer under US$23.5M / 5 year agreement formalized at Royal Society in London as launch-for-service exchange with NASA being pursued; David Parker of ESA says “robust & fast communications… will be available to all” in signing release
Recognizing Inevitable 
ESA Must Remain Relevant Amongst Spacefaring Powers USA, Rising China And India With Long Term Vision / Investment (ESA 2020 Budget = US$7.82B, NASA = $22.6B), Europe Human Landing On Moon By Decade End, Says ESA Director Of Human & Robotic Exploration David Parker At European Space Conference; MVA (Giuseppe Reibaldi, Aline Decadi) Promotes Women On The Moon Initiative; ILEWG (Bernard Foing) Advancing Lunar Exploration; Astronomy From The Moon Championed By Ian Crawford, Martin Elvis, Joseph Silk And John Zarnecki Of UK Royal Society



