Italian Space Agency contracts UK Space Company to design satellites to map Early Universe
Blue Skies Space, an upcoming leader in the provision of space science data to the global research community, has secured a contract from the Italian Space Agency (ASI) to design a fleet of satellites that could orbit the Moon and map the early universe.
The project will be called RadioLuna and it is planned to uncover whether a small fleet of satellites in a lunar orbit could help detect faint radio signals from the early days of the universe, when it was mostly composed of hydrogen gas, which is nearly impossible to detect here on Earth due to man-made radio interference. By listening from the far side of the moon, we should be able to use the radio signals, which are in the FM range, and scientists will be able to get a better understanding of the ‘cosmic dark ages.’ “RadioLuna is a challenge where scientific ambition meets engineering pragmatism,” stated Roberto Aceti, Managing Director of OHB Italia, one of the two major satellite system integrators in Italy and the Prime Contractor for key missions of the Italian Space Agency (ASI) and the European Space Agency (ESA), “We are proud to contribute to the development of an observatory that could open new frontiers in our understanding of the early universe, bringing to the mission our expertise and our M3 platform.”
The project is also looking to establish the viability of operating simple and cost-effective CubeSats equipped with commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) components orbiting the Moon and will be led by Blue Skies Space Italia, a subsidiary of UK-based Blue Skies Space Ltd. Project partner OHB Italia will be responsible for the definition of a viable platform in a Moon orbit.
Dr Marcell Tessenyi, CEO and Co-founder of Blue Skies Space, said: “The idea for this project stemmed from the global efforts to develop the lunar economy. Programmes by space agencies such as ESA Moonlight or NASA Artemis can provide the transport, communication and timing infrastructure to projects such as RadioLuna. We are grateful to the Italian Space Agency for funding this activity with our project partner OHB Italia to explore novel ways of delivering exciting science…We started Blue Skies Space to capitalise on the changes brought by the NewSpace economy. RadioLuna is an excellent opportunity to showcase the benefits these bring to science.”
The company has already made headlines by developing the world's first commercial astronomy mission, Twinkle, which is currently being built by Airbus, that aims to study exoplanets, stars, stellar discs and Solar System objects through visible and infrared spectroscopy and Mauve, a UV satellite conceived to study stars in our galaxy, providing a greater understanding of their magnetic activity, powerful flares, and the impact on the habitability of neighbouring exoplanets aiming to launch this October.
