VidaGIS

Surrey Satellite Technology Ltd (SSTL) has been selected by the European Space Agency (ESA) to manage a pan-European student-built mission to the Moon. The European Student Moon Orbiter (ESMO) programme will place a spacecraft into a lunar orbit to map the lunar surface, acquiring images and other scientific data about our nearest neighbour.

Students from at least ten universities throughout ESA's Member States and Cooperating States will obtain hands-on experience of space science and engineering by collaborating on the design and building of systems that could be launched into orbit around the Moon as soon as 2013.

SSTL will draw upon its experience in delivering cost-effective space missions and training schemes to project manage the ESMO mission, supervising the academic and student teams throughout Europe to help them achieve their goal of a space-ready Moon orbiter.

Professor Sir Martin Sweeting, Executive Chairman of SSTL said, "SSTL has had its sights on the Moon for nearly a decade and ESMO combines the industrial and educational strengths of SSTL towards this exciting challenge. We have shown many times in the past that success in space can be achieved at a fraction of the cost normally considered and we expect that this exciting mission will further demonstrate that this also applies to science missions such as Earth Observation and communications."

SSTL Lunar Expert Andy Phipps commented, "ESMO is an extremely exciting opportunity for these European students to learn about space first hand, with the practical insight and support of our training and development programmes.

"Having successfully delivered the radar payload processor to BAE Systems for NASA's contribution to the Indian lunar mission Chandrayaan-1, the ESMO project is just as significant for SSTL and forms the next step on our lunar roadmap - the delivery of a complete mission", continued Phipps.

SSTL was recently down-selected by the UK government's STFC (Science and Technology Facilities Council) to lead the design phase for the MoonLITE mission, leading to the development and launch of a low-cost lunar orbiter carrying scientific lunar surface penetrators and a communications relay payload to the Moon in 2014.