GPS satellites for lunar navigation
Hi! We’re Ashwin, Alex, Joaquim and Joe from Instinct and we’re building a satellite constellation for navigation on and around the moon.
The Problem
Everything on earth from cars to planes to Starship relies on our network of GNSS satellites. In cislunar space, however, rockets, satellites, rovers and landers have no analogue to GPS with which to determine their position during high-risk operations, and this lack of navigation architecture has led to over $350 million in losses to commercial space providers and government agencies over the last 5 years. A growing global space race to exploit the Moon's resources, with over 450 planned lunar missions over the next 8 years, means this lack of a GPS analogue on the Moon could cost Moon-bound companies billions over the next decade.
Our Solution
We’re miniaturizing GNSS satellite architecture to fit into a CubeSat format, massively decreasing manufacturing and launch costs from the current $250m per satellite to less than $5m. We plan to launch our first 4 satellites into lunar orbit by the end of next year, providing partial coverage over the lunar south pole and expanding to full coverage over the next few years.
We’re currently building the Baseline Orbital Ranging Device (BORD), our technology demonstrator CubeSat, which we’re launching into Low Earth Orbit later this year for in-orbit testing of our navigation payload.
The Team
Alex and Ashwin met during their undergraduate degrees where they founded their university’s rocketry society. Alex met Joaquim and Joe at UCL where they studied Space Science and Engineering, while Ashwin studied Industrial Systems, Manufacturing and Management at the University of Cambridge. The team has previous experience working on the NASA IMAP mission, the ESA Solar Orbiter mission and on various CubeSats at Open Cosmos in the UK.
The Ask
- Feedback: Please feel free to reach out with any advice, questions or insights on either the space or navigation industries!
- Connections: We’re currently getting in touch with companies in the Commercial Lunar Payload Services so If you have any connections with any of those companies we’d love to have a chat!