EuroMoon 2000 Mission Summary

Spacecraft

• Mass: 2900 kg in Lunar Transfer Orbit (LTO), 1000 kg on lunar surface, 300 kg Orbiter left in Low Lunar Orbit (LLO)

• Lander size: diameter 3.1 m, height 2.6 m

• Propulsion: 8x400 N, 8x10 N thrusters, pulsed-mode operation for thrust modulation during descent

• Power: 300 W bus power from 2.5 m² GaAs fixed solar panels (207 W/m²) plus 2.0 m² portion deployed on 10 m mast for surface operations, 16 kg NiH₂ batteries (60 Wh/kg)

• Thermal control: passive (high insulation, heat-pipe radiator with shutters/louvres), natural cool-down during 24 h periods of darkness

• GNC: three-axis stabilisation, coarse Sun sensor, star sensors, inertial measurement unit, three-lobe radar altimeter/Doppler radar

• Data: 8 Gbit MMU (video sequence storage)

• Communications: 20 W S-band transponder, omni-directional antennas for orbital operations 0.5 m high-gain antenna for descent/landing and surface operations

• Landing gear: four legs, <5 g landing shock

• Orbiter design: based on MORO design study (Phase-A) baseline with reduced propulsion subsystem

Payload

• Lander Payload mass 250 kg

• Millennium Challenge Payload (150 kg) to explore the lunar South Pole

• ESA Payload (100 kg) may include mini-/micro-rover(s), robotic arm, in-situ measurement instruments (geophysics, geochemistry, imaging, environment evaluation)

• Orbiter Payload: same as MORO Phase-A baseline

Launch and Orbit

• Dedicated Ariane-44LP into LTO

• Injection into lunar polar orbit at 200x200 km altitude (DeltaV=855 m/s)

• Orbiter separated and lowered to 100x100 km for lunar remote-sensing and gravity-field experiments (with subsatellite)

• Lander descends and lands (DeltaV=2000 m/s) on rim of lunar South Pole crater

• 'Blind' landing (100 m dispersion) with nominal augmentation (e.g. man-in-the-loop support)

• Duration about 4-6 days from launch to lunar orbit, 4-6 months to landing

Operations

• Communications: S-band (2076/2255 MHz)

• Data volume: 44 kbit/s to 4.4 Mbit/s, two ESA 15 m ground stations

• ESOC Operations Centre

• Operational lifetime: no particular limit on Moon's surface; about 14 months on Orbiter operations

• Direct-to-Earth communications from lunar surface (<50% of time), Orbiter as contingency relay

Programmatics

• Phase-B start in 1997, with Autumn 222200 targetted as launch date

• Based on European capability alone

• Mission elements contributed by various sponsors (no cost to ESA)

• Arianespace guarantees a dedicated Ariane-44LP launch

• Payloads contributed by national agencies, industry and academia

• Additional European Union and public funding