“I call LunaNet a big umbrella,” Gramling says. “It’s an architecture that defines the standards that will be used for interoperable communications and position, navigation, and timing services. There’s a lot of work going on to define those standards and document them in the LunaNet Interoperability Specification.”
“It’s a very different paradigm from where we have GPS in the US, Galileo in Europe, and GLONASS in Russia,” she added. “We’re still in the early stages, so the idea is that we as the three partners involved in LunaNet so far should work together and claim one of the three systems.”
In other words, NASA, ESA, and JAXA are currently working on their own projects, but ultimately plan to integrate these ideas into a single operating system. Detailed plans for ESA’s Moonlight Initiative help to envision what the lunar GNSS constellation might ultimately look like.
As currently envisioned by ESA, Moonlight will consist of at least five satellites, including a large communications satellite and four smaller dedicated navigation satellites, placed in a special orbit to optimize coverage at the lunar south pole. This initial configuration will provide 15 hours of reliable and predictable PNT service in the coverage area every 24 hours, but Moonlight is designed to be scalable, allowing more satellites to be added to expand the coverage area or support more complex missions.
“Moonlight represents a profound paradigm shift in exploration,” says Javier Ventura-Travesset, ESA’s Moonlight Navigation Manager. “Thanks to Moonlight, instead of each lunar mission needing its own complex communications and navigation systems, heavily dependent on Earth-based support, future missions will have access to broadband communications services and GNSS-like navigation systems directly from lunar orbit, all under a service agreement with a commercial supplier.”
It is unclear to what extent China or other countries will cooperate on existing lunar navigation constellation systems, or whether the Moon will have multiple versions of a GNSS similar to Earth’s. Earlier this summer, a team of scientists from the China Academy of Space Technology explained: Step by step plan The China Journal of Astronautical Science and Technology has an article about a GPS-style constellation.
“China has expressed interest in developing lunar navigation infrastructure at several international forums, and has already launched its lunar communications relay satellite, Queqiao-2, this year,” Ventura-Traveset notes. “Like ESA, NASA and JAXA, China is likely to develop its own lunar navigation constellation. In some of these international forums, China has also expressed interest in pursuing international interoperability.”
The emergence of these multiple competing concepts has left some wondering where this one is headed. A new “space race” To build the first lunar version of GPS. But Gramling doesn’t think so. “I know we’re keeping our heads down and working with our partners because we have a mission that we need to support relatively soon,” she says. “We’re trying to focus on making sure that our partners working on LunaNet are confident in the service that we’re going to provide and that we can work together.”
Patla noted that last month, the International Astronomical Union, the body that mediates astronomical matters, voted on a resolution that: Emphasize cooperation In establishing the lunar timescale and other elements of the lunar PNT system.
“At least in the early stages, collaboration will be cheaper and better for everyone,” Patla said. “But we don’t know how it will work out.”
