The two multinational space corporations have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the intent of combining their expertise and capabilities. The MoU includes cooperation on the transport and deployment of satellites into lunar orbit as early as 2024 and will look to provide communications and navigations services.
The moon is the next stop on the way to space exploration and space resources utilisation
Dr. Marc Serres, CEO, Luxembourg Space Agency is enthusiastic about the pooling of resources, “The Luxembourg Space sector has been showing continuous dynamism and development over the past years and I am thrilled to see that Plus Ultra is now also establishing its presence in the grand duchy. The moon is the next stop on the way to space exploration and space resources utilisation. We strongly believe in collaboration as a key success factor for the future of the space industry, and I am delighted to see the development of such projects with our national ecosystem.”
Plus Ultra will launch a lunar satellite constellation named Harmony which will provide a continuous, high-speed communications of up to 100 Mbps between any location on or around the Moon, including cislunar orbit (the area between the moon and the earth), and anywhere on Earth.
Harmony will aim to optimise the navigation of space vehicles, such as those operated by ispace EU, for commercial and governmental operators of landers, rovers, space tugs, and larger transportation systems on and around the lunar surface. Plus Ultra hopes to enable and kickstart a “whirlwind of activity,” on the Moon that ushers in a new era for the space economy.
“ESA and NASA have explicitly shown their interest for a lunar communications and navigation system,” said Carlos Manuel Entrena Utrilla, founder & CEO of Plus Ultra. He also wishes “to set the de facto industry standard for lunar communications and navigation,” making it a “a regular 24/7 service that enables new opportunities,” while also cementing Plus Ultra as the backbone of the lunar economy.
The European Space Agency selected ispace EU to be part of the science team which will seek to extract water on the Moon, an operation nicknamed PROSPECT.