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NASA’s Approach to Lunar Communication and Navigation: Artemis and BeyondNASA’s Space Communications and Navigation (SCaN) program is developing a support structure of networks, partners, and technologies to provide communication, position, navigation, and timing services at the Moon. In this paper, we describe the progress and status of these diverse efforts and the ways in which they will be used during NASA’s crewed lunar exploration program, Artemis. We provide an update on developments at NASA which are targeted to cislunar space, including the Orion Artemis II Optical Communications System (O2O) demonstration mission, planned Lunar Exploration Ground Sites (LEGS) that will offer a dedicated Direct to Earth (DTE) capability servicing the cislunar region, and a recently released RFP for commercial Lunar Communications Relay and Navigation Services as well as Direct to Earth communications capabilities. We also describe the current status and key role of the LunaNet Interoperability Specification (LNIS), a collaborative standards framework developed by NASA, international partner agencies, and commercial stakeholders. A common thread, weaving these efforts together, is the support of commercial enterprises that can meet the Artemis challenge. Together, these projects and activities will enable safe, robust, and reliable communications and position, navigation, and timing (PNT) services for both crewed and uncrewed missions across cislunar space. SCaN and NASA, with our partners, are helping to build the foundation for a long term, sustainable human presence at the Moon –one that will set the stage for similar efforts at Mars.
Document ID
20240012244
Acquisition Source
Headquarters
Document Type
Conference Paper
Authors
Kevin Coggins
(National Aeronautics and Space Administration Washington, United States)
Gregory W Heckler
(National Aeronautics and Space Administration Washington, United States)
Jeffrey Dobereiner
(Teltrium Inc.)
Erica Weir
(Teltrium Inc.)
Phoebe Wetherbee
(Teltrium Inc.)
Date Acquired
September 24, 2024
Subject Category
Space Communications, Spacecraft Communications, Command and Tracking
Report/Patent Number
IAC-24-B3-1-9-x85682
Meeting Information
Meeting: 75th International Astronautical Congress (IAC)
Location: Milan
Country: IT
Start Date: October 14, 2024
End Date: October 18, 2024
Sponsors: International Astronautical Federation (IAF)
Funding Number(s)
CONTRACT_GRANT: 80HQTR21D0003
Distribution Limits
Public
Copyright
Portions of document may include copyright protected material.
Technical Review
NASA Peer Committee
Keywords
LunaNet
LNIS
LEGS
Artemis
O2O
Orion
Lunar
Communications
Position Navigation and Timing
Commercial
Partnerships
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