Category Archives: Lunar Communications

Friday / 17 April 2020

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Cislunar Navigation And Reconnaissance Technologies Advanced By USAF Contract Awards

Xplore Of Seattle WA Granted US$50k Via AFWERX To Draft Situational Positioning Technology Concepts Similar To Terrestrial GPS, In Press Release Founder Lisa Rich Says Xplore Will “Rapidly Advance Space Domain Awareness Now That Cislunar Space Operations Is A Focal Point”; Rhea Space Activity Of Washington DC And Saber Astronautics Of Sydney, AUS / Boulder CO Also To Receive $50k For Earth-Based Data Gathering Interface “Space Cockpit” With Remote Controls; Establishment Of Cislunar Infrastructure To Benefit National / Civilian Space Agencies And Commercial / Independent Enterprise

Credits: Xplore, Rhea, Advanced Space, CAPS, KUNC, NASA

Friday / 20 March 2020

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Global Positioning System Satellites To Aid Artemis Lunar Missions 

NASA Intends To Use Signals From 24+ Operational GPS Satellites In 20,000-Km Earth Orbit With Receivers On Moon; GSFC Developing Lunar GPS Receiver Based Upon NavCube System Being Tested On ISS; JPL Scientists Kar-Ming Cheung (L) And Charles Lee (R) Estimate That GPS Allows Lunar Navigation With 200-300 Meter Accuracy; Navigation Could Be Improved With Small Relay Satellite In High Lunar Orbit

Credits: NASA, JPL

Friday / 13 March 2020

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University Teams Building SmallSat Demonstrations For Artemis 

NASA Small Spacecraft Technology Program Selects Nine University Teams For Small (<180 Kg) Satellite Demonstrations Supporting Artemis; Universities Will Receive Up To US$200K For Lunar Projects; Arizona State University Tempe Will Test Deployable Optical Receiver Aperture; University Of Colorado Boulder Will Build SmallSat Lunar Communications System In Collaboration With JPL; University Of California Irvine And University Of Illinois Urbana-Champaign Will Both Test Electrospray Thrusters; Future SmallSats Could Provide Communications And Navigation For The Moon

Credits: NASA

Tuesday / 10 March 2020

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Artemis Student Challenge Awards University Teams For Cosmic Crops And Lunar Communication Laser Development

NASA Awards Nearly US$1M To Eight University Teams; University Of Arizona Colleges Of Engineering, Agriculture And Life Sciences, Team Led By Murat Kacira, Receives $84,333 To Develop Improved Water And Nutrient System For Growing Cosmic Crops In Microgravity (L); Colorado School Of Mines, In Cooperation With University Of Arizona, Receives $114K To Test Laser For Communicating With Tiny ‘FemtoSat’ Spacecraft, Shown By Jekan Thanga (R), Launched Across Moon; Laser Communication System May Be Used For Exploring Permanently Shadowed Regions Of Lunar South Pole

Credits: University of Arizona

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

Tuesday / 23 July 2019

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Purdue Engineering Initiative In Cislunar Space Launching 50 Years After Apollo 11

New Program Intended To Spur Economic Development In Space Around Earth And Moon; Initiative Will Focus On Infrastructure, Communication, Policy And Educational Requirements Of Commercial And Public Cislunar Space Activities; Purdue University Is Known As The “Cradle Of Astronauts”, Alma Mater To 25 Spacefarers Including First Moon Explorer Neil Armstrong; Engineering Dean Mung Chiang (C) Says Initiative Will “Contribute To Critical Dimensions Of The Next 50 Years Of Small Steps And Giant Leaps In Space”

Also Pictured: Program Chair Dan Dumbacher (R), Co-chair David Spencer(L); Credits: NASA, Purdue

Friday / 25 Jan 2019

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Europe Funds Studies On Lunar Mining, Astronaut EVAs, Lunar Gravity Effects

ESA Signs 1-Year Lunar Regolith Feasibility Study Contract With Arianespace To Launch “Ariane 64” Vehicle With PTScientists Lunar Lander By 2025 To Search For Oxygen, Water, Helium-3 To Produce Fuel; Pangaea-X Test Campaign In Lanzarote Spain Advancing Lunar EVA Simulations, Communications, Tools, Science Protocols; ESA-DLR-NASA Collaborate On Moon 1/6th Gravity Study To Understand Physiological Impact Of Living, Working On Moon

Credits: ESA, PTScientists, Ariane Group

Weekend Edition
Fri-Mon / 27-30 July 2018

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Chang’e-4 Far Side Moon Lander On Track For Dec Launch; Beijing Big Moon Expo Continues

China Long March 3B Set To Launch Chang’e-4 Lander & Rover Dec 2018 To Lunar Far Side South Pole Aitken Basin; Lander To Carry High-Res Cameras, Low Frequency Spectrometer, “Lunar Lander Neutrons & Dosimetry”; Rover Equipped With Panoramic Camera, Lunar Penetrating Radar, Visible / Infrared Spectrometer, “Advanced Small Analyser For Neutrals”; Queqiao Relay Satellite At L2 Orbit; Longjiang-2 Operates In Elliptical Lunar Orbit Transmitting Images From Moon; Lunar Exploration Technology Exhibition Featuring 10-meter Moon Continues To 9 Oct At Beijing National Aquatic Center “Water Cube”

Credits: CNSA, CASC, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing National Aquatic Center, NASA

Weekend Edition
Fri-Mon / 15-18 June 2018

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Chang’e-4 Relay Satellite Enters Intended Orbit, Prepares For Upcoming Mission

China Relay Satellite Queqiao Successfully Reaches Halo Orbit Around Earth-Moon Lagrange Point 2, Will Undergo Orbit Maintenance Every 7 Days, Equipped With NCLE Low-Frequency Pathfinder To Detect Cosmic Dark Ages Radio Signals, Will Act As Communication Relay For Chang’e-4 Lander & Rover Mission Planned Nov-Dec Launch To South Pole Aitken Basin / Von Kármán Crater; Microsatellite Longjiang-2 Operates In Lunar Orbit, Transmits Far Side Pictures Using Saudi Arabia Optical Camera; NAOC Prof Ping Jinsong Mentions Feasibility Of Flying Near-Future Low Cost Lunar Constellation

Credits: CNSA, CLEP, KASCST, NAOC, CAS, Planetary Society, NCLE, ASTRON

Friday / 15 June 2018

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AAS Advancing Galaxy Science, Human Equality, Astronomy From The Moon

21st Century Directions Apparent At American Astronomical Society 232nd Meeting In Denver CO With 5 Of 10 Plenaries On Galaxies, 5 Of 10 Presented By Women Astrophysicists, Supported By (L-R) Incoming AAS President Megan Donahue And Outgoing President Christine Jones; Pioneering Sessions On Low Radio Frequency Observations From Space And Moon Included Presentations By Heino Falcke, Robert MacDowell, Jack Burns, Joseph Lazio, Which Could Enable AAS Symposium In 12-24 Months On “Astronomy On, For and From The Moon”

Credits: ILOA, SPC, Steve Durst, AAS, NLSI, IAU, NASA, JPL, Radboud Univ., ISIS, ASTRON, Netherlands Space Office, et al