By Meilyn Gues Perez
May 12, 2025

As humanity moves closer to establishing a long-term presence on the Moon, advancements in navigation and positioning technology are becoming increasingly crucial. Two recent breakthroughs—Firefly Aerospace’s Blue Ghost lunar lander and NASA’s successful acquisition of Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) signals on the Moon—are set to revolutionize lunar exploration. These achievements have significant implications for future Artemis missions and the development of a robust Positioning, Navigation, and Timing (PNT) network on the Moon.

Firefly Aerospace’s Blue Ghost: A Landmark Lunar Mission

Firefly Aerospace, a private aerospace company specializing in small- to medium-class launch vehicles and lunar landers, has developed the Blue Ghost lunar lander. Selected by NASA under the Commercial Lunar Payload Services (CLPS) initiative, Blue Ghost is scheduled for its first mission in 2024. It will deliver a suite of scientific payloads to Mare Crisium, a large lunar basin, to conduct experiments related to lunar geology, regolith properties, and thermal conditions (NASA, 2021).

The Blue Ghost lander is equipped with advanced communication and navigation systems, contributing to lunar surface operations' precision. The mission will lay the groundwork for future Artemis landings, offering critical insights into lunar conditions while validating technologies necessary for sustainable human presence on the Moon (NASA, 2021).

NASA’s GNSS Success: A Leap Forward in Lunar Navigation

In a historic first, NASA has successfully acquired and processed GNSS signals on the Moon, an achievement that marks a major milestone for lunar navigation (NASA, 2023). Previously, GNSS—comprising systems like GPS, Galileo, and GLONASS—was primarily used for Earth-based applications and spacecraft operations in low Earth orbit (LEO). The ability to receive these signals at lunar distances (approximately 384,400 km from Earth) demonstrates the feasibility of extending Earth-based navigation technologies to cislunar space (NASA, 2023).

NASA’s NavCube, an experimental GNSS receiver aboard the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO), detected and processed weak GNSS signals at lunar distances. This success proves that Earth’s GNSS infrastructure can be leveraged to provide positioning and timing data for lunar missions, significantly reducing reliance on ground-based tracking stations (NASA, 2023).

Impact on Artemis Missions and Lunar PNT Network

The integration of GNSS signals into lunar operations will revolutionize Artemis missions, offering several key advantages:

1. Enhanced Lunar Navigation & Autonomous Operations: 

One of the biggest challenges of lunar exploration is precise positioning and navigation. With GNSS signals reaching the Moon, future Artemis astronauts, lunar rovers, and landers will no longer be fully dependent on ground-based tracking. This will allow for greater autonomy in surface operations, improving mission efficiency (NASA, 2023).

2. Development of a Lunar PNT Network: 

The GNSS breakthrough is a stepping stone toward establishing a dedicated lunar PNT network, an essential component for long-term lunar habitation and resource utilization. NASA, along with international partners, envisions a Lunar GNSS constellation that would provide:

2. • Real-time navigation for astronauts and robotic systems

   • Precision landing capabilities for crewed and uncrewed missions

   • Seamless coordination between lunar bases and orbiting spacecraft

By leveraging Earth-based GNSS and supplementing it with dedicated lunar satellites and ground stations, a comprehensive Moon-wide navigation system can be developed to support scientific, commercial, and exploration activities (NASA, 2023).

3. Supporting Lunar Infrastructure & Artemis Base Camp:

A stable PNT network will be critical for establishing Artemis Base Camp, NASA’s envisioned long-term lunar habitat. Precise navigation and timing synchronization will aid in construction, resource mapping, and transportation across the Moon’s surface, ensuring astronauts can safely explore and utilize lunar resources (NASA, 2023).

Challenges and Future Developments

While these advancements mark significant progress, challenges remain in fully operationalizing GNSS-based navigation on the Moon. The GNSS signals received at lunar distances are extremely weak, requiring highly sensitive receivers and advanced algorithms to process data effectively. Additionally, coverage in certain lunar regions, such as the far side and polar areas, remains a challenge that future lunar satellites and relay stations may address.

Looking ahead, NASA and its partners are exploring hybrid navigation solutions, combining GNSS with inertial navigation systems, optical tracking, and lunar beacons to ensure uninterrupted coverage. The deployment of dedicated lunar satellites, akin to Earth’s GNSS constellations, may further enhance positioning accuracy and reliability.

Conclusion

Although the primary goal is lunar exploration, these technological advancements also set the stage for future deep-space missions to Mars and beyond. Expanding GNSS capabilities into deep space could establish the groundwork for a solar system-wide navigation network, providing essential support for upcoming crewed missions to Mars (NASA, 2023).

NASA and commercial partners like Firefly Aerospace are leading the charge in developing sustainable lunar infrastructure. The successful deployment of Blue Ghost and the integration of GNSS signals into lunar missions mark critical steps toward making a permanent human presence on the Moon a reality (NASA, 2021; NASA, 2023).

As we move closer to the Artemis era, these technological milestones will redefine how we explore, navigate, and settle the Moon, bringing us one step closer to an interplanetary future.