A satellite navigation system (SNS) offers a real-time location service using navigation satellites wherever a person may be - in the sea, air, ground, or space. But the far side of the Moon is already out of coverage from the navigation satellites. For future lunar missions, scientists thought of using a unique satellite navigation system called NaviMoon satnav receiver.
According to European Space Agency (ESA), its test version has already been delivered for integration testing on the Lunar Pathfinder spacecraft. The satnav is designed to perform the farthest ever positioning fix from Earth to send signals that will be millions of times fainter than those used by smartphones on Earth.
NaviMoon Satellite Navigation Receiver Designed to Employ Signals for the Farthest Part of the Moon From Earth
NaviMoon Satnav Will Be Flying Aboard Lunar Pathfinder
NaviMoon satnav receiver will be flown aboard the Lunar Pathfinder mission into orbit around the Moon, explains ESA's Navigation Science Office head Javier Ventura-Traveset. It will perform the furthest satellite navigation position fix at over 4000,000 kilometers away.
Javier added that the NaviMoon satnav will be the first engineering model built under ESA's Moonlight initiative to develop dedicated telecommunications and navigation services for the Moon. Its demonstration will imply a true change of paradigm for lunar orbiting navigation as it represents an extraordinary engineering feat where Galileo and GPS signals are so faint.
Lily Forward, a system engineer for Surrey Satellite Technology Ltd (SSTL), which made the Lunar Pathfinder, said that the test version of the NaviMoon satnav receiver will be integrated into the "FlatSat Test Be" version of the mission to see whether all systems communicate and work together properly ahead of receiving the flight model receiver later this year.
During the test, they will compare satnav position fixes from conventional radio using the X-band transmitter of the washing machine-size Lunar Pathfinder. They will also perform laser ranging using a retroreflector from NASA.
Forward noted that it will be the first time three ranging techniques will be used in deep space. The combination will improve the orbit estimation beyond what radio ranging can achieve. It means that future lunar missions could navigate autonomously on the Moon using satnav signals without help from ground operations.
Lunar Pathfinder's Mission
According to ESA, Lunar Pathfinder's mission aims to provide communication and navigation data for lunar exploration and serve users worldwide. It is the first step toward the space agency's ambitious Moonlight vision, which aims to create a network of communications and data relay satellites that will also serve people on the ground, just as how people use Galileo and GPS on Earth to navigate places.
Through the Lunar Pathfinder and the NAviMoon satnav receiver, they set to provide communications relay for rovers that will search the far side and polar regions of the Moon, which scientists see as a potential source of resources for water, fuel, and oxygen. It will ensure continuous contact between robots and humans on the mission.
The Lunar Pathfinder is now set to test the satellite navigation receiver. After that, it will monitor space weather to understand radiation levels on the lunar surface, which is a concern for human explorers.
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