GNSS

ESA launches Moonlight to establish lunar communications and navigation infrastructure

ESA has officially launched its Moonlight programme, a landmark initiative to create a satellite constellation orbiting the Moon for communications and navigation services. With over 400 planned lunar missions by space agencies and private companies in the next two decades, this programme marks a significant step towards sustainable lunar exploration and the development of a lunar economy.

The Moonlight Lunar Communications and Navigation Services (LCNS) programme will enable precise, autonomous landings and surface mobility, while facilitating high-speed, low-latency communication and data transfer between Earth and the Moon. This infrastructure is essential for humanity’s return to and long-term presence on the Moon, while enhancing efficiency and significantly reducing operational and user costs.

The Moonlight programme addresses critical needs in human and robotic space exploration while creating commercial opportunities for European industry in the emerging lunar economy. It will play a crucial role in supporting future deep space exploration efforts.

Moonlight will consist of five satellites – four for navigation and one for communications – connected to Earth via three dedicated ground stations, creating a data network spanning up to 400 000 km. The satellites will be strategically positioned to prioritise coverage of the lunar south pole, an area of particular interest for future missions due to its “peaks of eternal light” suitable for solar power and “craters of eternal darkness” containing polar ice which can be a source of water, oxygen and rocket fuel.

Moonlight’s implementation will occur in phases, beginning with the Lunar Pathfinder, a communications relay satellite manufactured by Surrey Satellite Technology Ltd (SSTL), set to begin operations in 2026.Following Lunar Pathfinder, Moonlight services will be gradually deployed, with initial operations by the end of 2028 and full operations by 2030.

ESA is collaborating with NASA and JAXA on LunaNet, a framework for lunar communication and navigation standards. This cooperation ensures compatibility with future lunar infrastructures and technologies, allowing a global customer base to benefit from Moonlight’s services. Moonlight will comply with LunaNet’s standards and undergo the first-ever lunar navigation interoperability tests, planned for 2029. www.esa.int

Galileo constellation expands with two new satellites

SpaceX has launched the latest pair of Galileo satellites from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket carried satellites 31 and 32 (FM26 and FM32) to their designated orbits.

This launch, number 13 in the Galileo program, marks a crucial milestone in the constellation’s development. The addition of these satellites completes the designed constellation, with the required operational satellites plus one spare per orbital plane. The new pair will undergo testing at their final altitude of 23,222 km before becoming operational. www.esa.int

China completes national eLoran network

The Dunhuang long-wave timing station, a critical component of China’s highprecision ground-based timing system, has been completed and tested. This marks a significant advancement in China’s development of a three-dimensional cross-timing system that spans air, space and land. The high-precision groundbased timing system leverages eLoran radio long-wave and fiber-optic timing technology. This system is designed to operate independently of satellite navigation timing, providing backup, complementary functions and mutual enhancement with existing timing systems.

China has constructed three additional long-wave timing stations in Dunhuang, Korla and Nagqu. When combined with existing stations, the new stations are designed to achieve nationwide coverage of long-wave timing signals.

During the construction of the Dunhuang station, researchers reported significant breakthroughs in highprecision transmission control and pulse time reference feedback modulation technology. They achieved a megawattlevel Loran timing transmission accuracy of 20 ns, surpassing the current international standard of 50 ns.

Final pair of backup Beidou satellites launched

China launched the last pair of backup satellites for its Beidou navigation system recently. A Long March 3B rocket equipped with a Yuanzheng-1 upper stage lifted off from the Xichang Satellite Launch Center at 9:14 p.m. Eastern Sept. 18 (0114 UTC Sept. 19). Two backup Beidou positioning, navigation and timing (PNT) satellites were successfully inserted into medium Earth orbits (MEO). These satellites are the 59th and 60th launched for China’s Beidou GNSS.

The new pair will join existing Beidou MEO orbital planes as backups. This will allow maintenance and management of satellites while maintaining full operation of the system. Additionally, the pair will conduct experiments for the future Beidou-4 next-generation navigation satellite technology. They feature improvements over earlier Beidou satellites in areas including autonomous integrity monitoring and atomic clock technology