On March 3, a breakthrough was achieved when the Lunar Global Navigation Satellite System Receiver Experiment (LuGRE) became the first technology demonstration to acquire and track Earth navigation signals on the lunar surface.
It was reported that the success of the LuGRE payload in lunar orbit and on the lunar surface indicates that signals from the Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) can be received and tracked on the moon. These results imply that future exploration missions can benefit from these signals to accurately and autonomously determine their position, velocity, and time.
An official said, "On Earth, we use GNSS signals for navigation in various devices, from smartphones to airplanes. Now, LuGRE has shown that GNSS signals can be successfully acquired and tracked on the moon. This is a very exciting discovery for lunar navigation, and we hope to leverage this capability for future missions."
On March 2, a private space company announced that its "Blue Ghosh Mission 1" had successfully landed on the lunar surface, becoming the first commercial company in history to achieve a fully successful lunar landing. The mission carried 10 payloads aimed at advancing lunar science, including LuGRE.
Early on March 3, it was officially announced that LuGRE had acquired and tracked signals on the lunar surface for the first time and achieved navigation and positioning, at a distance of approximately 225,000 miles from Earth.
The LuGRE payload also broke the GNSS record during its journey to the moon. On January 21, LuGRE exceeded the previous highest - altitude GNSS signal acquisition record, which was held by a previous mission, at a distance of 209,900 miles from Earth.
As LuGRE entered lunar orbit on February 20, at a distance of 243,000 miles from Earth, its altitude record continued to rise. This means that near - Earth space missions between the Earth and the moon can also rely on GNSS signals for navigation and positioning.
