Moon GPS signals acquired by NASA

NASA and the Italian Space Agency made history on March 3 when the Lunar GNSS Receiver Experiment (LuGRE) became the first technology demonstration to acquire and track Earth-based navigation signals on the Moon’s surface.

Image credit: NASA

The LuGRE payload’s success in lunar orbit and on the surface indicates that signals from the GNSS (Global Navigation Satellite System) can be received and tracked at the Moon. These results mean that NASA’s Artemis missions, or other exploration missions, could benefit from these signals to accurately and autonomously determine their position, velocity, and time. This represents a stepping stone to advanced navigation systems and services for the Moon and Mars.

Moon GPS signals acquired by NASA

Kevin Coggins, deputy associate administrator for NASA’s SCaN (Space Communications and Navigation) Program, emphasized the significance of this achievement, stating that GNSS signals are used for navigation on Earth in everything from smartphones to airplanes. Coggins noted that LuGRE had demonstrated the ability to successfully acquire and track GNSS signals at the Moon, marking an exciting discovery for lunar navigation. He expressed optimism that this capability could be leveraged for future missions.

The road to the historic milestone began on March 2 when Firefly Aerospace’s Blue Ghost lunar lander touched down on the Moon and delivered LuGRE, one of 10 NASA payloads intended to advance lunar science. Soon after landing, LuGRE payload operators at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, began conducting their first science operation on the lunar surface.

With the receiver data flowing in, anticipation mounted over whether a Moon-based mission could acquire and track signals from two GNSS constellations, GPS and Galileo, and use those signals for navigation on the lunar surface.

Then, at 2 a.m. EST on March 3, it became official: LuGRE acquired and tracked signals on the lunar surface for the first time ever and achieved a navigation fix, approximately 225,000 miles away from Earth.

Now that Blue Ghost is on the Moon, the mission will operate for 14 days, providing NASA and the Italian Space Agency with the opportunity to collect data in a near-continuous mode, leading to additional GNSS milestones. In addition to this record-setting achievement, LuGRE is the first Italian Space Agency-developed hardware on the Moon, marking a milestone for the organization.

The LuGRE payload also broke GNSS records on its journey to the Moon. On Jan. 21, LuGRE surpassed the highest altitude GNSS signal acquisition ever recorded at 209,900 miles from Earth, a record formerly held by NASA’s Magnetospheric Multiscale Mission. Its altitude record continued to climb as LuGRE reached lunar orbit on Feb. 20 — 243,000 miles from Earth. This development suggests that missions in cislunar space, the area of space between Earth and the Moon, could also rely on GNSS signals for navigation fixes.

Traditionally, NASA engineers have tracked spacecraft by using a combination of measurements, including onboard sensors and signals from Earth-based tracking stations. The LuGRE payload demonstrates that using GNSS signals for navigation can reduce reliance on human operators because these signals can be picked up and used autonomously by spacecraft, even as far away as the Moon.

The LuGRE payload is a collaborative effort between NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, the Italian Space Agency, their industry partner Qascom, and Politecnico di Torino. Funding and oversight for the LuGRE payload come from NASA’s SCaN Program office. It was chosen by NASA as one of 10 funded research and technology demonstrations for delivery to the lunar surface by Firefly Aerospace Inc., a flight under the agency’s Commercial Lunar Payload Services initiative.

The Blue Ghost lunar lander receives GNSS signals from Earth

Image credit: NASA/Dave Ryan

"On Earth we can use GNSS signals to navigate in everything from smartphones to airplanes. Now, LuGRE shows us that we can successfully acquire and track GNSS signals at the Moon. This is a very exciting discovery for lunar navigation, and we hope to leverage this capability for future missions," said Kevin Coggins, deputy associate administrator for NASA’s SCaN (Space Communications and Navigation) Program.

LuGRE Records on Blue Ghost

Image credit: NASA/Dave Ryan

The joint NASA, Italian Space Agency, Qascom, and PoliTO LuGRE team at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center

Image credit: NASA