LuGRE has achieved for the first time in history the radionavigation positioning from the Moon, successfully capturing signals from Earth-based GNSS navigation systems. Nearly 24 hours after the Firefly Aerospace's Blue Ghost lander touchdown, the Italian receiver was powered on at 7:10 AM Italian time, marking the beginning of its lunar sky observations over Mare Crisium. LuGRE (Lunar GNSS Receiver Experiment) is a collaborative mission between the Italian Space Agency and NASA, developed in Italy by Qascom with scientific support from the Polytechnic University of Turin.
«LuGRE is a challenge we have won, and it does not surprise me nor, I believe, does it surprise us - said Teodoro Valente, president of the Italian Space Agency - after the mission is completed, it will allow us to study the vast amount of data collected over two months, providing the scientific community with valuable insights for future developments and technological research. My thanks go to the entire Qascom team, the Polytechnic University of Turin, and especially the NASA, Firefly Aerospace and ASI team, of whom we are proud for their tireless work in achieving these extraordinary milestones».
Prior to activating LuGRE, the lander underwent a series of system checks to ensure that its onboard systems and scientific instruments were fully operational. A vital step involved calibrating the gimbal, which precisely orients the antennas toward Earth. Only after confirming this alignment could LuGRE be activated to search for GNSS signals. The first GPS G25 signal on L1 and L5 frequencies was received at 7:48 AM, a moment of excitement for the control team, confirming that the receiver had come through landing unscathed and was functioning well. The orientation was confirmed as correct, and operations were as expected.
The real breakthrough came shortly after: upon analyzing the initial received data, it was shown that LuGRE locked and traced onto four satellites—two from GPS (G18, G25) and two from the Galileo system (E2, E3). This achievement enabled the first calculation of Position, Velocity, and Time (PVT) fixes on the lunar surface, utilizing signals from both the American GPS and the European Galileo systems. This milestone adds to a string of achievements for LuGRE. It is the first GNSS receiver to operate beyond Low Earth Orbit and is designed to work in both lunar orbit and on the Moon's surface. It is also the first active Italian instrument on the Moon, having received GPS signals from over 200,000 kilometres away and detecting Galileo signals beyond Earth’s atmosphere.
Moreover, LuGRE is pioneering in demonstrating the simultaneous use of GPS and Galileo signals in the lunar environment, a feat never accomplished before at such distances from Earth, with the farthest signal acquired being around 410,000 kilometres away. After landing, FireFly has performed all procedures required to confirm the nominal status of the lander and the readiness to start the science activities with all the 10 payloads. After this perfectly achieved complex milestone, FireFly has given the green light to NASA and ASI to re-activate LuGRE payload to operate on lunar surface over the next 14 days, until lunar night sets in, in continuous gathering essential data for future advancements in space navigation. The only planned downtime will be at lunar noon, when the lander will need to regulate its thermal systems without drawing energy from its scientific payloads. LuGRE will relay scientific data that will be instrumental in developing future lunar and cis-lunar navigation systems. The outcomes of this mission will pave the way for greater exploration possibilities and establish a more autonomous and dependable positioning system to support upcoming human and robotic missions on the Moon and beyond.
