The European Space Agency presented a vision on Thursday to put satellites in orbit around the moon that will facilitate future missions to Earth’s closest neighbors.
The plan, dubbed “Moonlight,” will see the European Space Agency provide communications and navigation services to any country wishing to carry out lunar exploration missions.
By relying on the services provided by lunar orbit, the space agency will be able to design a lunar landing craft without the need for complicated communications and navigation equipment onboard. This will free up space to transport other cargo, making each launch more cost-effective, said Paul Verhoef, director of navigation at the European Space Agency.
The project leverages one of the agency’s strengths: launching satellites to provide services to third parties. The European Space Agency maintains a fleet of observation satellites in Earth orbit that provide weather, climate and other data to public and commercial companies.
It also has a series of navigation satellites, known as Galileo, which provide high-resolution global positioning data to rival GPS in the United States.
But it also highlights the European Agency’s weaknesses: unlike the United States, China or India, the European Space Agency does not have an ambitious lunar exploration program. Instead, the European Space Agency hopes to partner with NASA to build a “moon gate” that will serve as a starting point for future lunar missions.
The proposals outlined by the European Space Agency on Thursday will see two international federations devise ways to build reliable and dedicated communications and satellite navigation services.
The first satellite called “Lunar Pathfinder” will operate in 2024.
David Parker, director of human and robotic exploration at the European Space Agency, said the agency’s member states would receive a formal proposal to form a constellation next year.
He said, “If approved, the project could be started in full force as early as 2023 to ensure it is operational in four or five years.”
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