The Artemis mission began with the Artemis I launch test late last year in preparation for sending astronauts back to the moon in 2025. To support a long-term mission on the moon, a base with a good communication system to earth is needed. Lockheed Martin has announced the formation of a new subsidiary Crescent Space Services that will offer communications services on the lunar surface.
The Crescent Space satellite network named Parsec not only facilitates communication from the moon to the earth but also between astronauts on the lunar surface back to base. More importantly, it also has a secondary feature as a GPS system satellite for the lunar surface. Crescent Space hopes NASA will be among their customers when the system is fully operational.
In addition to Crescent Space, the European Space Agency (ESA) also wants to launch the Lunar Pathfinder mission, which uses the GPS and Galileo satellite networks to provide accurate positions on the lunar surface.
Tags
SCIENCES