Goonhilly to be at centre at new mission to the moon

A team at Goonhilly Earth Station will track a spacecraft being built in the UK, that is due to launch in 2019.

Staff will be at the helm of a dedicated mission operations centre, with one of the site's famous antennas - affectionately referred to as "dishes" in the area - being upgraded into a deep space "ground asset."

Goonhilly has teamed up with Surrey Satellite Technology Ltd and the European Space Agency for the project, which marks the world’s first commercial deep space mission.

This will see 80kg of tiny satellites, known as nano-satellites, taken up into space on behalf of paying customers.

Each customer will be charged around £1 million per kilogram for the privilege of having their satellite taken into the moon's orbit, with a communication link then being provided back down to Goonhilly.

The satellites will be transported in the spacecraft, known as Lunar Pathfinder, before they are released into space. Some of them will remain in orbit, while others may land on the surface of the moon.

The team at Surrey have already begun designing a series of lunar communication satellites that will go beyond the Earth's orbit for the first time.

A number of customers have already show interest, including international space agencies, governments and research organisations.

Once enough nano-satellites have been "booked," Surrey's engineers will start to build the Lunar Pathfinder mothership.

The first planned launch will be via an Indian rocket that has already successfully transported spacecraft to the moon and it is hoped to follow this up with other missions, approximately every two years.

Sir Martin Sweeting, executive chairman of Surrey Satellite Technology Ltd, said cost was a "common barrier" to further exploration of the solar system around the Earth, adding: "The Lunar Pathfinder missions will provide the low cost support infrastructure that allows customers to focus on the science and business aspects of their missions.”