Last but not least, new downstream applications can be enabled by lunar communications and navigation services. A new frontier of the Lunar Economy can be initiated by the development of services in domains such as industrial manufacturing (chemical plants, mining, on site resource exploitation), or utility infrastructure, to support to exploration and exploitation of the lunar surface.
Services on Earth are another emerging area, regarding education, edutainment, infotainment, media and much more. Examples could be virtual reality games in which players manipulate lunar robots or applications to allow anybody in the world to see through the eyes of lunar astronauts. New forms of interactions could be allowed by innovative services that connects machines and humans between the lunar environment and Earth. Perhaps a new chapter for the Internet of Things (IoT) sector could take place on the Moon, where a network of robots, ‘smart’ devices and ‘smart’ infrastructures could be developed.
The younger generations could be drawn to STEM topics by connecting them to educative content in specific locations on the Moon or during crucial moments in the evolution of Lunar exploration.
The opportunities are many and mostly still to be fully understood, identified and brought to reality.
WHAT IS THE LUNAR COMMUNICATIONS AND NAVIGATION SERVICE (LCNS)?
The Agency’s vision represented in the Moonlight initiative, is to enable the development of a European-led delivery of communications and navigation services that will support the next generation of institutional and private Lunar Exploration Missions, including enhancing the performance of those missions currently under definition.
ESA launched two parallel competitive preparatory activities that will study the feasibility for the implementation of a Lunar Communications and Navigation Service (LCNS) and define the required associated infrastructure.
Ultimately, the Agency’s ambition is to promote the consolidation of a European-lead service provider that can commercialise communications and navigation services on the cis-lunar region and contribute to boost a new lunar economy.
As part of the ongoing work, an LCNS mission and system baseline concept will be defined.
The figure below presents a notional preliminary top-level system concept for LCNS, reflecting a system decomposition, encompassing a Lunar Space Segment, Earth Ground Segment, Lunar Surface Segment and Lunar User Segment and reflecting the main interactions between the different elements.
It is important to note the diagram doesn’t prescribe the number of LCNS nodes (e.g. satellites) required, nor their location (e.g. orbits) or characteristics (e.g. size). Individual nodes could potentially be providing different capabilities and performances as autonomous nodes or integrated in other elements (e.g. hosted payloads).
Potential LCNS users can interact with the different LCNS segments for the service provision, including Lunar Space segment, Lunar Surface Segment and Earth Ground Segment (e.g. direct to Earth or Earth based GNSS). Furthermore, the LCNS Earth Ground Segment could exploit the existence of the available SATCOM (space/ground) infrastructure. LCNS should provide the most appropriate end efficient connectivity path to the lunar users.
LCNS EXPECTED CAPABILITIES: COMMUNICATION SERVICES
The communications services intend to provide the following service types:
The following table characterises the main performances for the different communications services:
LCNS EXPECTED CAPABILITIES: NAVIGATION SERVICES
The navigation LCNS navigation service is planned to be provided in two ways:
The following table characterises the main performances for the navigation services. It is important to note that, similarly to the communication services, the performances will depend on the specific LCNS implementation, so precise numbers cannot be provided at this stage. The performances listed below are provided in ranges and covers a potential initial phase up to a full LCNS deployment:
CALL OBJECTIVES
The objective of this Call for ideas is to inspire different types of potential lunar users to submit ideas for new use cases and applications that can be enabled and supported by the LCNS services under development.
The present Call for ideas is aimed at collecting new ideas, engage new users and open up new possibilities and opportunities for the new and diverse Lunar user community that is starting to emerge and that will be vital to build a sustainable future for Lunar exploration.
This Call allows the applicants to influence the definition and future roll out of LCNS and the overall Moonlight Initiative by proposing ideas of how to these services could be utilised and how they can support the future development of the Lunar Economy.
ESA will select the best ideas and use cases and invite the applicants to ESA establishments for dedicated 1-to-1 meetings and help them mature their ideas. On case-by-case basis, ESA will direct them to the most appropriate ESA programme or funding mechanism that could be suitable for them to advance their work.
Furthermore, selected applicants will be invited to the 2nd LCNS User Engagement Workshop, to be held in Q2/Q3 2022, and have the opportunity to present their ideas and use cases together with other future and potential users and with the two Industrial consortia working on the Phase A/B1 of LCNS.
The best ideas will have the chance to be invited to take part to the ESA Lunar Forum, a permanent group made of international Moonlight stakeholders who share the common interest in the future of Lunar exploration and explore together new missions and LCNS concepts.
WHO SHOULD RESPOND TO THIS CALL?
- Commercial users (i.e for profit entities within and outside the space sector)
- Academic/scientific users (e.g. universities, R&D dept.)
- Institutional users (e.g. space agencies, governments)
- Anybody who has an idea for an use case/application for LCNS communication and/or navigation services
EXPECTED IDEAS
ESA is looking for innovative ideas for application cases, at concept stage as well as at higher level of maturity, that can be enabled by the LCNS communications and/or navigation services.
These applications shall make use of the LCNS services to serve users’ needs within the lunar environment (lunar surface and/or lunar orbit) and/or to users located on Earth. Some of the presented application cases may be taken forward and integrated into mission concepts at the next ESA Council at Ministerial level.
Ideas could be related to any of the following topics - but are not limited to only these:
- Demonstrating the feasibility of in-situ resource utilisation (ISRU) in support of future human missions (e.g. water, oxygen, cryogenic propellants, metals).
- in-space manufacturing
- prospecting capabilities
- Logistics
- Artificial intelligence
- Navigation applications:
- synchronization and timing applications
- Enhancing safety (i.e. Search-and-rescue, alert and distress)
- Improved mobility
- Scientific applications
- Dust mitigation
- Infrastructure construction and maintenance
- Rocket refueling
- Crops cultivation
- Life-support
- Media (e.g. streaming services, filming, etc.)
- Virtual and augmented reality
- Education
- Gaming, including infotainment and edutainment
Each idea should aim at supporting short-term and/or long-term human and robotic exploration of the Moon and the development of the Lunar economy. Prospective ideas should highlight the following:
- What is the application?
- Which LCNS services will you make use of?
- Which problem does the application address?
- What is the added value of the suggested applications in the context of sustainable exploration activities?
- What are the potential showstoppers for the technical development?
PROCESS OF SELECTION
Ideas should be prepared and submitted as described in this document. Setting your idea as “Visible” on this Open Space Innovation Platform (OSIP) fosters discussion and maturation of your idea with contributions from the community. After the deadline, an internal ESA panel will review these ideas according to the criteria above-mentioned.
The proponents of the best ideas will be invited to pitch their idea to ESA experts at the European Space Research and Technology Centre in Noordwijk, the Netherlands / European Astronaut Centre in Cologne, Germany and to discuss their vision with experts and astronauts. Exclusive tour through the ESA facilities. Selected contributors will be invited to join the Moonlight User Form that helps ESA shape the Moonlight vision.
Depending on idea maturity and relevance to the ESA Space Exploration Strategy, several avenues could be also available as follow up opportunities:
Certain implementation schemes will be limited to ESA Member States.
TIMELINE OF THE CALL FOR IDEAS CAMPAIGN
- 28 October 2021: Call announced at the IAC 2021
- 10 January 2022: Call for Ideas opens
- 30 April 2022: Idea submission deadline, start of the review
- 2 May 2022: Authors notified of initial idea evaluation
- 31 May 2022: First review outcomes, ideas selected for advancement
- June 2022: Dedicated 1-to-1 meetings at ESA establishments
RELEVANT LINKS