ESC
Lunar Communications Relay and Navigation Systems (LCRNS)
Part of the Exploration and Space Communications projects division at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center, the LCRNS project is an initiative aimed at enabling a robust commercial communication and navigation infrastructure around the Moon.
Lunar Communications Relay and Navigation Systems (LCRNS)
Reliable communications and navigation are essential for crewed missions, robotic missions, rovers, and infrastructure development on and around the Moon. As part of the SCaN (Space Communications and Navigation) Program’s Artemis Moon to Mars strategy, the Lunar Communications Relay and Navigation Systems (LCRNS) project works with commercial partners to validate new lunar relay services, ensuring missions can stay connected with Earth even on the dark side of the Moon. By supporting today’s exploration needs and scaling for tomorrow’s sustained presence, LCRNS helps pave the way from the Moon to Mars.
What is LCRNS?
NASA's Lunar Communications and Relay Navigation (LCRNS) project tests commercial lunar communications and navigation services.
LCRNS is working with selected commercial companies to verify the relays are developed to the set Artemis program requirements. These relays will test their communications and navigation services capability incrementally starting with Artemis III, demonstrate full-range communications with Artemis IV, and demonstrate full-range communications and navigation with Artemis V. After its successful demonstration, the relays will be operationally ready for Artemis V+ and other associated missions.
LCRNS is essential to lunar exploration.
Establishing a network of communication relay satellites in lunar orbit will enable continuous and reliable communication between Earth and lunar missions, even in locations where the Earth is not directly visible from the Moon. NASA is embracing the growing aerospace sector because it's cost-effective, gives access to new technology and innovation, fosters competition and economic growth, and enhances overall aerospace capabilities. For these reasons, the NASA LCRNS project is not building the lunar-based relays but instead is verifying and validating commercial lunar relay services procured under NASA's Near Space Network Services Request for Proposal. These lunar relay services will be deployed in an incremental fashion though an Initial Operating Capability, meaning it will support near-term objectives before being built upon to support future Artemis endeavors.
LCRNS is creating the specifications for a lunar internet.
In addition to following Artemis requirements specified in the LCRNS Lunar Relay Service Requirements Document (SRD), the relay will also need to follow the multi-agency LunaNet Interoperability Specification (as indexed in the LCRNS SRD), which outlines interoperable standards for communications and navigation services at the Moon. The goal of LunaNet is to bring internet-like capabilities to the Moon so that all assets may exchange communications, navigation, and science information.
LCRNS verifies and validates lunar relays.
For the incremental verification of service capabilities, LCRNS is developing an Interoperability and Performance Validation Capability (IPVC) consisting of an Interoperability and Performance Test (IPT) and LCRNS Government Analysis Tools (LGAT). The IPT is a hardware-in-the-loop testbed emulating a universal lunar-user terminal, allowing for verification by test of LCRNS Lunar Relay service performance and interoperability requirements, while the LGAT are a suite of software tools used for service performance and interoperability requirements verification via analysis.
LCRNS develops cislunar technology in collaboration with industry.
In addition to overseeing commercial lunar relay service development, the LCRNS team is developing technologies that could be passed off to industry for implementation. The main technology includes the LCRNS Position, Navigation, & Timing Instrument (LPI), a payload capable of ingesting a variety of measurement types and estimating the relay's position, velocity, and time with sufficient accuracy for the delivery of navigation services to relay user missions in cislunar space.
The Lunar Relay
NASA is partnering with the aerospace industry to develop lunar relays. Establishing a network of communication relay satellites in lunar orbit will enable continuous and reliable communication between Earth and lunar missions, even in locations where the Earth is not directly visible from the Moon.
NASA’s Lunar Communications Relay and Navigation Systems (LCRNS)
This technical paper outlines NASA's vision for LCRNS, tracks the evolving performance and interoperability requirements for lunar relay satellites, compares their communications approach to NASA's existing Tracking and Data Relay Satellites (TDRS), explains LCRNS plans to validate commercial services capabilities, and introduces the LCRNS Position, Navigation, and Timing Instrument (LPI). Written and presented in 2025 for the 18th International Conference on Space Operations in Montreal.
Read moreLCRNS Resources
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