Moon to have its own GPS soon, Chinese scientists reveal plan

Scientists in China are planning to develop a navigation system around the moon that will support Beijing’s lunar ambitions.

They plan to send more than a dozen satellites around the moon to get accurate navigation data.

The construction of 21 satellites around the moon has been proposed by Beijing Institute of Spacecraft System Engineering. The scientists plan to build a navigation system around moon that gives real time data, according to a report.

High-precision location services on Moon

Satellite-based system can provide scientists with sub meter level high-precision location services, improve navigation and positioning accuracy, and can be widely applied in multiple areas: transportation, surveying and mapping, deformation monitoring, oil and gas etc.

The construction of cislunar space infrastructure (CLSI) can provide basic and universal services for human activities in the cislunar space, including data communications, position navigation and timing (PNT).

It will also provide situation monitoring for the development of lunar space, which can meet the needs of follow-up major national lunar exploration projects, according to a paper published last month in the journal, Chinese Space Science and Technology .

Satellites will be deployed in four types of orbits

The plan is set to be executed in three phases and satellites will be deployed in four types of orbits to maintain a sustainable and cost-effective design.

“A satellite constellation in near-lunar space can provide real-time, high-precision navigation and positioning for lunar surface movement, landing and take-off, and support high-frequency human exploration of the moon in the long run,” said the team led by Peng Jing, deputy chief designer of China’s Chang’e-5 mission, according to SCMP .

“Our study presented a road map to assemble such a constellation step by step, expanding its coverage from the lunar south pole region to the entire moon.”

Months before, China launched Queqiao-2, a communication relay satellite, in near-lunar space to support its Chang’e-6 mission, which explored the far side of the moon.

The satellite serves as a relay platform for the fourth phase of China’s lunar exploration program, providing communications services for Chang’e-4, Chang’e-6, Chang’e-7, and Long March-8 missions.

However, China is not the only country that’s planning to build moon-based navigation constellations. The US, Japan and Europe also revealed similar plans earlier.

In 2022, Japan proposed Lunar Navigation Satellite System, which will include eight satellites that will circle the moon in highly elliptical orbits.

The Chinese scientists planned to optimize the parameters of each orbit type and develop a more systematic design for the lunar navigation constellation. After placing a total of 21 satellites in four types of orbits, the system could give accurate positioning for any place on the lunar surface for more than 70 per cent of the time, reported SCMP .