Surrey Satellite Technology Ltd, founded in 1985 by spacecraft pioneer Professor Sir Martin Sweeting, will launch the Lunar Pathfinder satellite in 2026. It will be the first of a constellation of interconnected lunar orbiters that will provide data-relay services for communication and navigation around the Moon.
Watch the full RAZOR episode on how the discovery of water on the moon has been a catalyst for a new era of space exploration on our YouTube channel - just look for RAZOR science show.
Watch the full RAZOR episode on how the discovery of water on the moon has been a catalyst for a new era of space exploration on our YouTube channel - just look for RAZOR science show.
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00:00There is another difference about this new push for the Moon.
00:05Private companies are also involved.
00:08In the UK, a small satellite manufacturer is helping with communications infrastructure.
00:14I'm actually a child of the Apollo era because I watched the Moon landings when I was an
00:19early teenager and that's what stimulated me.
00:22But things have really changed a lot because if you have a look over the next, I think,
00:27ten years, there's something like a hundred different missions being planned to go around
00:32the Moon, some of them on the Moon, either for exploration or for scientific purposes.
00:38And the potential for an economic activity on the Moon is seen particularly by the private
00:44sector.
00:45The SSTL Lunar Pathfinder Satellite will be the first of a constellation of interconnected
00:51lunar orbiters that will provide data relay services for communication and navigation
00:57around the Moon.