What is ESA’s Moonlight initiative?

Going to the Moon was the first step. Staying there is the next ambition.
ESA is a key partner in NASA’s Artemis programme, which aims to return people to the Moon by the end of the decade. Dozens of other international public and private missions are setting their sights on the lunar surface in the coming years.
But to achieve a permanent and sustainable presence on the Moon, reliable and autonomous lunar communications and navigation services are required.
This is why ESA is working with its industrial partners on the Moonlight initiative, to become the first off-planet commercial telecoms and satellite navigation provider.
Following their launch, three or four satellites will be carried into lunar orbit by a space tug and deployed one by one, to form a constellation of lunar satellites. The number and specification of these satellites are currently being defined.
The constellation's orbits are optimised to give coverage to the lunar south pole, whose sustained sunlight and polar ice make it the focus of upcoming missions.
Moonlight will provide data capacities sufficient to serve these planned and future missions, with a navigation service that enables accurate real-time positioning for all lunar missions.
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#ESA
#Moon
#MoonLight

[@julianr1778]

This is actually just great!

[@dealieno]

ESA videos are the best. Thank you.

[@EuropeanSpaceAgency]

Glad you think so!

[@saraxmelting4901]

sounds like an amazing proyect, hopefully it will be

[@roterotevideo]

This is awesome. Great idea to combine supply and relay stations.

[@MarsChroniken]

Love these ambitions! Ad Astra! Ad Luna! Go ESA!

[@utkuerkan7028]

Great notion ESA; communications & navigation is crucial for humanity in lunar surface, earth & universe. I hope its implemented eventually !, all the best in your present & future works. :-) 🙂

[@Fauxstus]

We need to redesign those spacesuits

[@arkheavyindutries]

Very interesting! Which European companies are working in the Moonlight initiative?

[@EuropeanSpaceAgency]

More information will be shared in Council Meeting at Ministerial Level - CM22 on 22 and 23 November 2022 👀 vision.esa.int/cm22/

[@CosmicCells]

Can anyone tell me if I can use short parts of ESA YT videos such as this one for my own KZbin video if I credit them 1. while showing these parts of their video and 2. credit them in the video description? Thanks!

[@Laughlin_ONeill2010]

Will commercial space companies also be apart of this moon outpost?

[@BushidoBrownSama]

Will the Artemis missions use this or no? Looks like the answer is yes

[@Midg-td3ty]

Ok sounds good, so when will it be done ?

[@Chef_MDT2nd]

look @ESA please bring back mrs. *Kelsie-Brennan-Wessels* We do miss Her Soooooo Much 😢❤

[@SPACETVnet]

Who is the narrator? It would be nice to see full credits for the production.

[@thenerdofallnerds9922]

EPIC!

[@TheChrisaige]

Our taxes at work :) feels great to see them being spend to progress humanity

[@Midg-td3ty]

I checked the page for future missions. Its not on it. I somehow doubt this will happen. It would be too cool a project for ESA.

[@amangogna68]

Great video !

[@EuropeanSpaceAgency]

Thank you for watching!

[@JanoschNr1]

It brings the heroes of the moon together to defeat evil

[@สุชาติทวิชัยมงคล-อ5ย]

It's great.📡

[@Incorruptus1]

Question: How will people stay on the Moon for enduring periods, since their bodies will turn to jelly? Without any form of artificial gravity, which we do not have yet, and that excludes magnet boots, since that is pure nonsense. So how will you keep humans alive and healthy there?

[@JesbaamSanchez]

When ESA actually laid out the plan better than NASA, maybe I am in the wrong country

[@mmamlg]

Awesome!

[@Laughlin_ONeill2010]

Will rockets launch from this base due to the fact the moons gravitational pull is lower than earth so launching mars mission s from there would be responsible?

[@madisonfeehan]

This is the best representation of lunar satellite communication that I've seen to date! Thank you so much for posting! 🤩🌠🛰

[@EuropeanSpaceAgency]

You are so welcome!! Thanks for watching!

[@guts2048]

Is this still being proposed or is it being built and planned to launch like artemis?

[@ClinchfieldRailfan921]

still being propesed

[@sebpatu]

We want a live stream on KZbin from moon !!! 😍

[@mariadaluzmoutinho5701]

A Lua prometida desde 1969!! Veremos o luar da Lua ...Este projecto piloto da ESA seria um júbilo, mas ver um astronauta à luz da Lua a passear seria fantastico e memoravel!!

[@quentinpaden1481]

Spacex Esas

[@SwordQuake2]

With the moon being tidally locked wouldn't it be more viable to have big ground stations on its surface which link with Earth-based ground stations? That'd simplify the tracking and synchronisation and by using big and powerful radios and dishes improve the link budget vastly. A constellation of communication satellites for use on the Moon surface isn't excluded by this, it even improves it. So long as it doesn't ruin Moon-based astronomy (which probably has promise).

[@coenogo]

That would require extensive construction on the Lunar surface, something that is outside our current capabilities. This satellite network however, is something we could do today. Furthermore, satellites will allow for accurate position tracking, something that's not easily achievable with ground stations alone.

[@lilysceeliljeaniemoonlight]

Argonaut brilliance!🚀🆙🌟🌖🌔🌚🌝🌛🌜

[@echo1257]

I'm never going to the moon

[@Astro_lixi]

So fricking cool

[@milo-gd3ml]

Helium 3 mining on the way

[@ClinchfieldRailfan921]

wait guys you also wanna colnize the moon?

[@TeslaElonSpaceXFan]

SpaceX ❤

[@LiliaAbonales]

Kajzalea feytte Abonales moonlight computer jan 2024 nasa station

[@LiliaAbonales]

Moonlight marinesT D computer

[@xhtml5for1.0]

Yeah don't come back stay there for a year or two

[@malemusa7900]

Yo ESA! The Climate situation we having! What can you do about that? Someone is gotz to do something about that for sure! And I nominate you!

[@zzz_zzzzzzz_zzz_imtired]

Why

[@vinvic1578]

They actually do a lot of fundamental climate research, and have projects working on solutions. If you are actually interested, you should check out their website to learn more. I doubt a KZbin comment will help.

[@zzz_zzzzzzz_zzz_imtired]

@@vinvic1578 thanks, that was helpful

[@sebpatu]

They do a lot. Some of late satellites sent in leo are made to monitor climate change more precisely.

[@matthewwagner47]

Getting things ready for the billionaire condos on the moon.

[@vinvic1578]

That's why we need ESA : to beat SpaceX and Blue Origin

[@coenogo]

I suspect you say that out of a disdain for billionaires (which I can understand), but you're actually more correct than you might think. Those future billionaire condos on the moon will want high-speed internet access. With this satellite network, ESA will be able to provide it while charging a huge utility fee. This money can then be used by ESA to further expand its operations. The billionaires get their moon condos, ESA gets a large increase in independent funding, and we have fewer billionaires on Earth! Everybody wins!

[@alanmcmillan6969]

Can we first prove we can get people to the moon? No SLS, no Starship yet.

[@vinvic1578]

This is part of Moonlight's objective. "Getting people to the moon" is not the problem, we've had that technology since the 60s. It's making sure that we can keep them there, and do it efficiently.

[@sebpatu]

Sls is ready to fly in the next 2 weeks. That sounds pretty ready to me.

[@obeseboy597]

@SEB you’re right, just two more weeks. remember when SLS had a similar timeline as falcon heavy and was competing for the first orbital flight with FH? Now it’s competing with starship, and losing. It will be rolled back to asses hurricane damages, and new handpicked Alabama river rocks will be needed to cover the road before it rolls back to the Launch Pad. The SRBs are way beyond their expiration date, and they didn’t fuel the rocket successfully once (1).

[@sebpatu]

@@obeseboy597 and yet it lift off.