Lunar Pathfinder

Lunar Pathfinder [SSTL]

The Lunar Pathfinder satellite from Surrey Satellite Technology Ltd (SSTL) will provide communications services in the lunar orbit.

A network of communications and data relay satellites serving users worldwide is the ambitious Moonlight vision of the European Space Agency (ESA), which is being realized in part by Lunar Pathfinder. Such satellites might also offer lunar exploration data for navigation.

Space agencies are particularly interested in the Moon's far side and polar regions as potential sources of oxygen, fuel, and water. For humans and robots to stay in constant communication, a communications relay satellite like Lunar Pathfinder is required.

The Lunar Pathfinder mission also hosts two separate ESA experiments, the first testing the possibility of using existing navigation satellites for positioning on the Moon and the second a space weather monitor to understand radiation levels around the Moon – important for human explorers. Also a NASA Laser retroreflector array is on board.

Lunar Pathfinder will be launched towards the moon in 2026 using a common Blue Ghost Transfer Vehicle with NASA's Blue Ghost M2.