NovaMoon: A Strategic Lunar Reference Station for Positioning, Timing, and Largely Enhanced Science in the Earth-Moon System
Abstract
The renewed interest in lunar exploration and the development of future lunar communication and navigation services highlight the need for a precise, stable, and interoperable geodetic and timing infrastructure on the Moon. NovaMoon, proposed as a scientific and navigation payload for ESA's Argonaut lander, is designed as a lunar-based local differential, geodetic, and timing station supporting both operational needs in the Moon's south polar region and a broad range of scientific investigations. The payload integrates a lunar laser retroreflector, a Very Long Baseline Interferometry transmitter, a receiver for navigation signals compatible with LunaNet standards, high-stability atomic clocks, and direct-to-Earth radio links -- making it the first lunar station to co-locate multiple ranging, tracking, and timing techniques. NovaMoon will enable sub-metre to decimetre positioning, provide local differential corrections for lunar users, and ensure an accurate and stable realisation of position and time. Preliminary simulation studies show that this multi-technique dataset improves the lunar reference frame, orientation and ephemerides, and estimates of interior parameters like tidal response and core properties. NovaMoon will also provide the first long-duration physical realisation of a lunar time reference. Beyond its primary goals, it supports improved cartography, precise surface geolocation, and higher-resolution topography, contributing to safer landings and operations. It also enables new tests of fundamental physics, including constraints on relativity and possible deviations from classical gravity.
Keywords
Cite
@article{arxiv.2602.08432,
title = {NovaMoon: A Strategic Lunar Reference Station for Positioning, Timing, and Largely Enhanced Science in the Earth-Moon System},
author = {Serena Molli and Agnès Fienga and Pascale Defraigne and Krzysztof Sośnica and Luigi Cacciapuoti and Luca Porcelli and Lotfi Massarweh and Sara Bruni and Riccardo Pozzobon and Albert Roura and Francesco Vespe and Diego Blas and Ozgur Karatekin and Yoann Audet and Floor Melman and Richard Swinden and Javier Ventura-Traveset and Olivier Alibart and Marie-Christine Angonin and Daniel Arnold and Ruth Bamford and Emmanuele Battista and Marco Belloni and J. C. Berton and Orfeu Bertolami and Mathis Bloßfeld and Adrien Bourgoin and Giada Bargiacchi and Salvatore Buoninfante and Nicolò Burzillà and Roberto Campagnola and Paolo Cappuccio and Salvatore Capozziello and Giuseppe Cimò and Clément Courde and Rolf Dach and Mario Siciliani de Cumis and Simone Dell'Agnello and Fabrizio De Marchi and Valentina Galluzzi and Francesco Gini and Philipp Glaeser and Klaus Gwinner and Alex Guinard and Rüdiger Haas and Aurélien Hees and Hauke Hussmann and Luciano Iess and Alexander C. Jenkins and Siddarth K. Joshi and Maria Karbon and Sergei Klioner and Kaisa Laiho and Christophe Le Poncin-Lafitte and Marco Lucente and David Lucchesi and Riccardo March and Lucia McCallum and Jürgen Müller and Weijie Nie and Jillian Oduber and Roberto Peron and Francesco Picciariello and Théo Pichavant and Michael Plumaris and Eleonora Polini and Ana-Catalina Plesa and Dimitrios Psychas and Bernardino Quaranta and Nicolas Rambaux and Marc Rovira-Navarro and Francesco Santoli and Matthias Schartner and Florian Seitz and Ilaria Sesia and Yan Seyffert and Stefano Speretta and Tim Springer and Giuseppe Vallone and Paolo Villoresi and Sebastien Vincent-Bonnieu and Ben Wadsworth and Pierre Waller and Radosław Zajdel and Erik Schoenemann},
journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:2602.08432},
year = {2026}
}
Comments
This manuscript is a preprint and has not yet been peer reviewed. It is currently under review at Space Science Reviews