Talking to the moon: European Space Agency pitches lunar satellites plan

The European Space Agency presented a vision Thursday to put satellites in orbit around the moon that would facilitate future missions to Earth’s closest neighbour.

The plan, dubbed “Moonlight,” would see ESA offer communications and navigation services to any country that wants to carry out lunar exploration missions.

By relying services provided from lunar orbit, space agencies would be able to design their moon landers without the need for cumbersome communications and navigation devices on board. This would free up space to carry other cargo, making each launch more cost-effective, said Paul Verhoef, ESA’s director of navigation.

The project builds on one of the agency’s strengths: launching satellites to provide services to third parties.