By Chris Forrester
Clive Oates, Head of Region U.S., Canada, Australia and New Zealand for Surrey Satellite Tech. (SSTL). Mr Oates gave delegates a detailed report on the challenges of creating Lunar communications. He said the past decade had spurred considerable interest in global interest in returning to the Moon. There were reduced barriers to entry, launch costs had fallen and there are multiple commercial entities looking at the emerging Lunar economy, and an economy said to be worth hundreds of billions ($170bn to 2040).
SSTL expected a steady flow of lander missions by about 2030, and a steady presence on the Moon around 2036. Detection of water and ice in the Poles will be of key interest, as well as physical examination of the Moon’s surface.
Mr Oates went back to the historical Apollo missions, and where communications ranged from simple Morse Code up to TV signals. He explained that SSTL anticipated up to some 400 Lunar missions over the next 20 years. They will need more sophisticated communications.
SSTL is building Lunar Pathfinder in conjunction with ESA and NASA. It solves the line-of-sight challenge. The mission will carry several hosted payloads. Lunar Pathfinder is scheduled for launch in December 2025.
The frontiers of commercial space are growing, the Lunar economy is increasing, and industry is reducing barriers to return to the Moon.