If mankind is to have a long-term presence on the Moon, it will require dependable communications, which Lockheed Martin believes it can offer. Crescent Space, the company’s lunar infrastructure subsidiary, has launched its first project, a Moon-to-Earth satellite network. Parsec, as it is known, employs a network of tiny lunar satellites to maintain continuous communication between astronauts, their equipment, and people on Earth. The technology will also assist with navigation.
The technology ought to aid in communications and course corrections for spacecraft for explorers. Yet, as Lockheed Martin notes, it might be critical to individuals on lunar soil. The nodes of Parsec generate a lunar counterpart of GPS, providing astronauts with precise locations and instructions back to base. A rover team, for example, may know how to come home without driving into a deadly crater.
Crescent’s first Parsec nodes are expected to become life in 2025, with Lockheed Martin supplying the satellites. Now, before you ask, the firm is obviously looking for some large consumers. Crescent CEO Joe Landon (previously a Lockheed Martin Space Vice President) thinks the company is “ideally positioned” to assist NASA’s Artemis Moon landings and other exploration missions.
The launch may seem premature given that NASA’s Artemis programme will not even execute a lunar flypast until late 2024, with a landing scheduled for the end of 2025. But, there is already a definite race to the Moon, with state initiatives from the United States and China, as well as commercial enterprises like SpaceX’s lunar tourism. Crescent might assist Lockheed Martin in profiting from the influx without disturbing its regular operations.
