Space blog

The ambitious UK-led lunar program, MoonLITE, was presented at a meeting of the Royal Astronomical Society in London last Friday by SSTL's Phil Davies. Coordinated by SSTL partner in space Dr. Stuart Eves, the meeting discussed the scientific applications of small satellites in lunar missions. A number of overseas speakers attended to present their existing programmes and a number of UK papers on future mission proposals were also presented.

Feedback on the programme of talks has been excellent and it seems that many are conviced that world class science is now possible using high capability small satellites. You can find out more and read presentation on the University of Leicester's Astronomy with small satellites web page.

Last Monday at the 21st AIAA / USU Conference on Small Satellites , SSTL announced that they have been awarded a contract for the study phase of a potential joint US-UK lunar orbiter mission to be called Magnolia.

This first phase of the contract will run for 9-months, resulting in a preliminary design. The contract also includes a package of training from SSTL and the University of Surrey, that will share the know-how accrued by SSTL over the last 25 years with Mississippi State University (MSU) and NASA Stennis Space Center to lower the cost of future missions to the Moon.

MSU’s David Shaw stated:

“MSU is committed to developing a small satellite capability in Mississippi and believes that SSTL is the best partner with whom to achieve that aim”. SSTL’s founder and Group Executive Chairman, Sir Martin Sweeting, added: “We are delighted to be working with our US partners on this programme and look forward to the exciting possibility of a joint US-UK lunar mission. SSTL is committed to driving down the cost of space missions in Earth orbit and beyond.”

This isn't the first time SSTL have worked on lunar missions. Last year, SSTL performed a lunar exploration design study for the UK government’s Particle Physics and Astronomy Research Council (now subsumed into the newly created Science & Technology Facilities Council). The study was supported by a group of UK scientists and showed the feasibility of a pair of low cost missions known as MoonLITE and MoonRaker.

In the past, SSTL has developed equipment for interplanetary missions such as the Rosetta comet chaser and recently delivered a payload processor for a US radar to fly onboard the 2008 Indian lunar mission, Chandrayaan-1. Looking further into space, SSTL has performed a European Space Agency feasibility study for a low cost mission to Venus and has studied potential missions to near-Earth asteroids and Earth re-entry for the future return of samples from Mars. Magnolia marks SSTL’s next step beyond low Earth Orbit.

The contract follows a UK-US cooperation agreement on lunar exploration activities. The next phase of the Magnolia mission is planned to start in 2008 and could lead to the launch of the mission in 2010.

Exciting news today as 14 of the world’s leading space agencies revealed their agreed vision for globally co-ordinated space exploration to the Moon, Mars and beyond.

The British National Space Centre was among the 14 space agencies that developed the document. These were: ASI (Italy); BNSC (UK); CNES (France); CNSA (China); CSA (Canada); CSIRO (Australia); DLR (Germany); ESA (European Space Agency); ISRO (India); JAXA (Japan); KARI (Republic of Korea); NASA (USA); NSAU (Ukraine); and, Roscosmos (Russia).

Following months of intensive discussions, they published their common ideas for space exploration: The Global Exploration Strategy: The Framework for Co-ordination.

The document outlines the rationale for society to explore space, defines the current focus and process of space exploration, the current interest in returning to the Moon and exploring Mars, and proposes a framework for the future co-ordination of global space exploration.

Welcoming the publication of the document, Science and Innovation Minister Malcolm Wicks said:

“This document marks the start of a new era of space exploration. Since the launch of Sputnik in 1957, we have learnt much about how to explore space and have experienced the benefits of scientific discoveries in our everyday lives. Innovations such as exploiting space for global communications, weather forecasting and helping emergency services have all flowed from the first half-century of space exploration.

British National Space Centre - which co-ordinates UK civil space activities and represents the UK at the European Space Agency - was fully involved in shaping this document. Following its publication, it is expected that a voluntary, non-binding forum (the International Co-ordination Mechanism) will now be established so that all 14 nations can share their plans for space exploration, and collaborate to strengthen both individual projects and the collective effort.

Mr Wicks also highlighted the benefits of space exploration to the economy.

“During this century we are sure to see some fantastic voyages of discovery as robots and humans venture further into our Solar System. What they learn will excite and inspire new generations to get involved in science and create new technology that could benefit the whole economy."

Read the BNSC press release.

SSTL have unveiled plans that could make a UK spacecraft to the Moon a reality. Changing the economics of space, SSTL have made proposals for two missions at a fifth the cost typical of such projects.

In cooperation with the Surrey Space Centre (SSC) have been quietly preparing for a low-cost lunar mission for over a decade. This included projects for the European Space Agency (ESA) and a hardware contribution to the Chandrayaan-1 mission, India's lunar spacecraft due for launch this year. Recent high-profile missions such as GIOVE-A, built by SSTL and launched December last year, and participation in ESA’s Aurora Mars exploration programme have also helped develop affordable technologies in-house that are required for a challenging lunar mission.

Returning to the Moon has been proposed by a large number of international planetary scientists in order to answer several key scientific questions. It is a commonly held view that the Moon is just a lump of rock and that it has been fully explored. The truth is that very little is known about our closest neighbour.

The UK itself has an active lunar science community keen to support such a (robotic) lunar exploration mission, however, for several years these interests have been eclipsed by the drive to Mars. Recently there is a renewed global interest in returning to the Moon, stimulated by several missions planned by the USA (NASA Robotic Lunar Exploration Program), by China (Chang'E lunar satellite) and by India (Chandrayaan lunar satellite).

Technologies developed for Moon exploration can be adapted for further interplanetary exploration – for example, visits to Mars. This is reflected by ESA’s Aurora programme, which has recently broadened its focus away from just Mars to include the Moon - realising that the risk associated with overcoming the major technical challenges that are faced by Mars missions could reduced by effectively testing the technology with relatively inexpensive and timely lunar missions. ESA is considering a robotic mission to the Moon, but is experiencing pressure on the necessary funding to make it happen.

Since June 2006, SSTL and the Surrey Space Centre (SSC) have been working on a study into the feasibility of a low cost UK-led lunar mission funded by the Particle Physics and Astronomy Research Council (PPARC). The two ideas proposed as a result of the study were named “MoonLITE” (Moon Lightweight Interior and Telecom Experiment) and “MoonRaker”.

The first, MoonLITE, would propel four golf-bag-sized darts called penetrators into the lunar surface from an lunar orbiting satellite. The penetrators would be sent into different regions of the lunar surface not previously visited by the earlier Apollo and Russian missions – including, for the first time, the far side of the Moon. The penetrators would carry a suite of scientific instruments, such as seismometers used to measure “Moonquakes”, to determine the internal composition of the Moon.

The second, MoonRaker, would gently land a craft on the South Pole region of the Moon, relaying information back to the Earth on whether or not there is water or traces of oxygen and hydrogen trapped in permanently shaded areas. The confirmation of these would open the possibility of manufacturing resources needed to sustain human presence on the Moon without having to transport it all from Earth.