LuGRE receiver captures GNSS signals in lunar orbit

The LuGRE receiver successfully acquired and tracked GPS and Galileo satellite signals while in lunar orbit on February 19, operating at a distance of 63 Earth radii (approximately 401,814 km from Earth). Developed by Qascom for the Italian Space Agency in collaboration with NASA, and supported by Politecnico di Torino, the receiver is integrated into Firefly Aerospace’s Blue Ghost 1 lander as part of NASA’s Commercial Lunar Payload Services program.

During the lander’s journey to the Moon, LuGRE tracked signals in the L1/E1 and L5/E5 frequency bands. The farthest detected signal originated from the Galileo constellation at 67.79 Earth radii (approximately 432,384 km from the receiver). This experiment successfully demonstrated GNSS functionality near the Moon, where the lander traveled at approximately 1.66 km/s.

Despite the challenges of extreme distance and high velocity, the receiver achieved a position accuracy within 1.5 km and a velocity accuracy within 2 m/s. During a one-hour observation window, it acquired signals from four GPS satellites (L1 and L5 frequencies) and one Galileo satellite (E1-E5 bands). After landing, LuGRE will continue attempting to receive GNSS signals on the lunar surface for up to 14 days.