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New government funding helps UK companies lead way for future Moon missions
In what will be the world’s first commercial servicing of its kind, Surrey Satellite Technology Ltd (SSTL), Inmarsat and MDA UK are among those who won contracts with the European Space Agency (ESA), worth just over £2 million in total, to shape the infrastructure for future lunar exploration.
NASA plans to return to the Moon by 2024 and, working with ESA and other partners, intends to put a Gateway with living quarters for astronauts in lunar orbit. Reliable navigation and telecommunication capabilities are essential for these missions, and others like it, to succeed.