Bhubaneswar: Mission ‘Moonlight’, launched by he European Space Agency (ESA), is aimed at making more communications possible on the Moon.
The Moonlight Lunar Communications and Navigation Services (LCNS) programme will look to help over 400 moon missions planned by space agencies and private companies in the coming years.
Moonlight will be a constellation of five satellites orbiting the moon. Of the five, four satellites will be used for communication, and one for navigation.
This will facilitate high-speed communication and data transfer between Earth and the Moon, thereby making it the first off-planet communications provider, according to a report in Space.com.
ESA hopes that it will be “a significant step towards sustainable lunar exploration and the development of a lunar economy”. The agency is building a lander called Argonaut, that will allow different spacecrafts to land there.
Right now, there’s no way to make a phone call, share files, or use maps on mobile phones to figure out where you’re going.
This technology will potentially help people spend more time on the Moon.
The first satellite is expected to be operational from 2026, and the whole network will be running by 2030, hopes ESA.