Lunar Communications: The Future of How We Connect On The Moon

Communication between spacecraft and Earth is one of the most vital elements allowing humans to reach the Moon, but what happens once we get there? Over the summer, NASA awarded the $73M Commercial Lunar Payload Services (CLPS) CP-12 contract to Draper, an aerospace company with a history in space exploration from the earliest stages of Apollo.

Draper, along with partners including ispace technologies U.S., Inc., will deliver payloads including two communication relay satellites to lunar orbit and three NASA-sponsored science missions to the Schrödinger basin on the dark side of the lunar surface in 2025. ispace will serve as the lunar lander design agent with its SERIES-2 lander. CesiumAstro is supporting ispace’s communications needs. Join CesiumAstro and ispace to learn more about what they are doing for the mission and the future of lunar communications.

Moderator:

• Jessica Lis. Jessica serves as Director of Operations at Payload, a space media startup covering the business and policy of space. Before Payload, she worked in strategy consulting at Nomura and Brycetech. She also currently covers emerging tech for Insider Intelligence.

Speakers:

• Takeshi Hakamada. Takeshi is the CEO and Founder of ispace. Takeshi has raised record fundraising for the company and is now leading a multinational commercial lunar exploration program, known as HAKUTO-R. An active proponent for the commercial space industry, Takeshi is guiding ispace to continuously challenge itself to enable humans to establish a sustainable ecosystem between the Earth and the Moon by unlocking the utilization of space resources.

• Erik Luther. Erik is the VP of Product at CesiumAstro, an industry leader in active phased array communications technology for space and airborne systems. He has developed a passion for space RF and communications systems through his former roles at X-Microwave and National Instruments, focused on disruptive innovation that solves a real-world need.