Qascom will develop for the Italian Space Agency (ASI) the Neil system (Navigation early investigation on lunar surface), a receiver for the Global Navigation Satellite System (Gnss) with Software defined radio (SDR) technology whose objective is to find the best way for the lunar orbit and a facilitated “parking” on the Moon for the Blue Ghost lunar lander of NASA. For the first time in history, satellite positioning will be attempted via GPS and Galileo systems on the Moon, almost 400,000 kilometers away from the earth’s surface. So far, attempts to calculate the position of a spacecraft using satellite navigation satellites have never gone beyond 200,000 kilometers, an impressive limit only reached by NASA. THE NEIL
The Neil receiver, so named in honor of Neil Armstrong first terrestrial to touch the lunar ground, will be a Gnss receiving platform consisting of a dual frequency and dual constellation receiver and the entire signal reception chain (antenna, low frequency amplifier noise, filters), capable of withstanding the extreme conditions of the Moon. The weak signals from the side lobes of the GPS and Galileo satellite antennas (not designed to be used outside the Earth) will be processed with specific algorithms, allowing space and time positioning, albeit with reduced accuracy, during the cruise to the Moon. in lunar orbit and on the surface of the moon itself. The launch of the mission is planned for the end of 2023 via a SpaceX Falcon 9.LUNAR COLONIZATION
Neil also constitutes an important technical and scientific step for future lunar missions, as it will allow us to understand how GPS and Galileo can be exploited on the Moon for the spatial and temporal positioning of the Lunar Gateway, the future orbiting station. lunar, the constellations of lunar satellites, the lunar vehicles and rovers and the entire infrastructure that is being developed on the Artemis programs. The raw data collected and processed by the experiments of the Blue Ghost mission will be made available to the scientific community to study the lunar and cislunar environment and evaluate the future use of Gnss and its evolutions to support permanent missions. THE AGREEMENT BETWEEN ASI AND NASA
The realization of Neil is at the center of an agreement between ASI and NASA linked to the Clps 19-D mission, the mission program of the American agency with commercial and private contributions of an experimental nature, with which the space agency a the stars and stripes planned to land with a lander in the “Mare Crisium” basin in 2023. Neil, the subject of the contract signed between ASI and Qascom, will be the on-board payload, an integral part of the experiment called Lunar Gnss receiver experiment (Lugre), also defined in the agreement between ASI and Nasa, whose intent is to develop the first terrestrial activities in the lunar and cislunar environment. ITALY ON THE MOON
Neil is an unprecedented experiment in the Italian space panorama, of strategic importance for the entire country-system. With its innovation, Italian technology on the lunar surface will contribute to maintaining the competitiveness of the Italian space supply chain in constantly evolving international contexts. The collaboration agreement also highlights the strong proximity existing between ASI and NASA in the navigation sector and in the main areas for the future colonization of the Moon and, subsequently, of Mars.
