Telespazio, a joint venture between Leonardo and Thales, has awarded a contract to Thales Alenia Space, also a joint venture between Leonardo and Thales, to build satellites for the European Space Agency’s Moonlight constellation.
ESA initiated the Moonlight Lunar Communications and Navigation Services (LCNS) programme in October 2024. The project will deploy five satellites—four for navigation and one for communications—into orbit around the Moon, linked to Earth via three dedicated ground stations. With this infrastructure, ESA aims to make Moonlight the “first off-planet commercial telecoms and satellite navigation provider,” enabling precise, autonomous landings, surface mobility, and high-speed communication and data transfer between the Moon and Earth.
In October 2024, ESA awarded Telespazio a €123 million contract for the first phase of the Moonlight programme. Under the contract, the company is required to deliver initial operations by 2028 and full operations by 2030.
On 12 March 2025, Thales Alenia Space announced that it had been selected by Telespazio to develop the Lunar Space Segment of the Moonlight navigation system. This will include the construction and deployment of four navigation satellites into lunar elliptical orbit. Additionally, the company will be responsible for the development of elements of the system’s ground segment. However, the 12 March release did not specify which elements of the ground segment Thales Alenia Space would be responsible for developing.
Moonlight’s Lunar Pathfinder
In addition to the work led by Telespazio, the Moonlight programme also includes the development and deployment of the Lunar Pathfinder, a precursor to the larger constellation. However, this project is being led by Surrey Satellite Technology Ltd (SSTL).
In February 2020, SSTL announced that it would develop the Lunar Pathfinder satellite to provide affordable communication services for lunar missions. In September 2021, SSTL announced that ESA had signed on as an anchor customer for Lunar Pathfinder’s communication services, with the agency later integrating this agreement into its Moonlight programme.
