LunIR

Short description: Spacecraft

LunIR

The LunIR CubeSat, which will characterize and collect lunar surface data.

Names| SkyFire
Mission type| Technology demonstrator, reconnaissance
Operator| Lockheed Martin Space
COSPAR ID| 2022-156K
SATCAT no.| 57686
Mission duration| 1 year, 3 months and 7 days (in progress)
Spacecraft properties
Spacecraft| CubeSat
Spacecraft type| 6U CubeSat
Bus| Tyvak Nano-Satellite Systems
Manufacturer| Lockheed Martin Space
Launch mass| 14 kg (31 lb)
Dimensions| 10 cm × 20 cm × 30 cm
Start of mission
Launch date| 16 November 2022, 06:47:44 UTC[1]
Rocket| SLS Block 1
Launch site| KSC, LC-39B
Contractor| NASA
Flyby of Moon

NextSTEP program

LunIR (Lunar InfraRed Imaging, formerly known as SkyFire) is a nanosatellite spacecraft launched to the Moon collecting surface spectroscopy and thermography. It was launched as a secondary payload on the Artemis 1 mission on 16 November 2022.[1][2]

## Contents

* 1 Mission
* 2 Launch
* 3 Propulsion
* 4 See also
* 5 References

## Mission

LunIR is a technology demonstration mission funded by NASA that uses a low-cost 6U CubeSat spacecraft. LunIR will perform a lunar flyby, collecting spectroscopy and thermography for surface characterization, remote sensing, and site selection.[3] The spacecraft includes two deployable solar panels and will have a total mass of about 14 kg (31 lb).

LunIR was selected in April 2015 by NASA's NextSTEP program (Next Space Technologies for Exploration Partnerships) and awarded a contract to Lockheed Martin Space worth US$1.4 million for further development.[4][5][6]

LunIR will communicate with Earth via ground stations operated by Kongsberg Satellite Services. LunIR will use 13-meter-diameter radio antennas located in Punta Arenas, Chile; Svalbard, Norway; and Troll station, Antarctica.[7][8]

## Launch

LunIR was launched as one of ten CubeSats as a secondary payload on the maiden flight of the Space Launch System, Artemis 1.[2]

## Propulsion

LunIR will demonstrate a low thrust electric propulsion technology called electrospray propulsion to lower the spacecraft's orbit for additional science and technology mission objectives.[9]

## See also

The 10 CubeSats flying in the Artemis 1 mission

* Near-Earth Asteroid Scout by NASA was a solar sail spacecraft that was planned to encounter a near-Earth asteroid (mission failure)
* BioSentinel is an astrobiology mission
* LunIR by Lockheed Martin Space
* Lunar IceCube, by the Morehead State University
* CubeSat for Solar Particles (CuSP)
* Lunar Polar Hydrogen Mapper (LunaH-Map), designed by the Arizona State University
* EQUULEUS, submitted by JAXA and the University of Tokyo
* OMOTENASHI, submitted by JAXA, was a lunar lander (mission failure)
* ArgoMoon, designed by Argotec and coordinated by Italian Space Agency (ASI)
* Team Miles, by Fluid and Reason LLC, Tampa, Florida

The three CubeSat missions removed from Artemis 1

* Lunar Flashlight will map exposed water ice on the Moon
* Cislunar Explorers, Cornell University, Ithaca, New York
* Earth Escape Explorer (CU-E3), University of Colorado Boulder

## References

1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 Roulette, Joey; Gorman, Steve (2022-11-16). "NASA's next-generation Artemis mission heads to moon on debut test flight" (in en). Reuters. https://www.reuters.com/lifestyle/science/nasas-artemis-moon-rocket-begins-fueling-debut-launch-2022-11-15/.
2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 Clark, Stephen (12 October 2021). "Adapter structure with 10 CubeSats installed on top of Artemis moon rocket". Spaceflight Now. https://spaceflightnow.com/2021/10/12/adapter-structure-with-10-cubesats-installed-on-top-of-artemis-moon-rocket/.
3. ↑ Williams, Greg; Crusan, Jason (April 2015). "Pioneering Space – Evolvable Mars Campaign". NASA. http://www.nasa.gov/sites/default/files/files/20150408-NAC-Crusan-EMC-v7a_TAGGED.pdf. This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
4. ↑ Morring, Frank (24 April 2015). "Habitats Could Be NASA's Next Commercial Spacecraft Buy". Aviation Week. http://aviationweek.com/Habitats.
5. ↑ Clark, Stephen (8 April 2015). "NASA adding to list of CubeSats flying on first SLS mission". Spaceflight Now. http://spaceflightnow.com/2015/04/08/nasa-adding-to-list-of-cubesats-flying-on-first-sls-mission/.
6. ↑ Krebs, Gunter (18 May 2020). "LunIR (SkyFire)". Gunter's Space Page. http://space.skyrocket.de/doc_sdat/skyfire.htm.
7. ↑ "KSAT to support NASA LunIR mission" (in en-US). 2022-02-10. https://spacenews.com/ksat-lunir-ground-network/.
8. ↑ "KSAT to provide Ground Network support for the LunIR mission" (in en). https://www.ksat.no/news/news-archive/2022/provide-ground-network-support-for-the-lunir-mission/.
9. ↑ "Next Space Technologies for Exploration Partnerships (NextSTEP) Projects". NASA. 5 May 2015. http://www.nasa.gov/feature/next-space-technologies-for-exploration-partnerships-nextstep-projects. This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.

* v
* t
* e

Spacecraft missions to the Moon

Exploration
programs|

* American
* Apollo
* Artemis
* Commercial Lunar Payload Services
* Lunar Orbiter
* Lunar Precursor
* Pioneer
* Ranger
* Surveyor
* Chinese (Chang'e)
* Indian (Chandrayaan)
* Japanese
* Russian
* Luna-Glob
* Soviet
* Crewed
* Luna
* Lunokhod
* Zond

Active
missions|

| Orbiters|

* ARTEMIS
* Chang'e 5-T1 (service module)
* Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter
* Queqiao (relay satellite at L2)
* Chandrayaan-2

|

Landers|

* Chang'e 3
* Chang'e 4

Rovers|

* Yutu-2

Past
missions|

| Crewed landings|

* Apollo 11
* 12
* 14
* 15
* 16
* 17
* (List of Apollo astronauts)

|

Orbiters|

* Apollo 8
* 10
* Apollo Lunar Module
* Chang'e 1
* 2
* Chandrayaan-1
* Clementine
* Explorer 35
* 49
* GRAIL
* Hiten
* LADEE
* Longjiang-2
* Luna 10
* 11
* 12
* 14
* 19
* 22
* Lunar Orbiter 1
* 2
* 3
* 4
* 5
* Lunar Prospector
* PFS-1
* PFS-2
* SMART-1
* SELENE (Kaguya, Okina, Ouna)

Impactors|

* LCROSS
* Luna 2
* Moon Impact Probe
* Ranger 4
* 6
* 7
* 8
* 9

Landers|

* Apollo Lunar Module ×6
* Luna 9
* 13
* 16
* 17
* 20
* 21
* 23
* 24
* Surveyor 1
* 3
* 5
* 6
* 7

Rovers|

* Lunar Roving Vehicle
* Apollo 15
* 16
* 17
* Lunokhod 1
* 2
* Yutu

Sample return|

* Apollo 11
* 12
* 14
* 15
* 16
* 17
* Luna 16
* 20
* 24

Failed landings|

* Surveyor 2
* 4
* Luna 5
* 7
* 8
* 15
* 18
* Beresheet
* Vikram / Pragyan

Flybys|

* 4M
* Apollo 13
* AsiaSat-3 / HGS-1
* Chang'e 5-T1 / Xiaofei
* Geotail
* ICE
* Longjiang-1
* Luna 1
* 3
* 4
* 6
* Mariner 10
* Nozomi
* Pioneer 4
* Ranger 5
* STEREO
* TESS
* WMAP
* WIND
* Zond 3
* 5
* 6
* 7
* 8
* PAS-22

Planned
missions|

| Artemis|

* Artemis 1 (2020)
* ArgoMoon
* BioSentinel
* Cislunar Explorers
* CU-E3
* CuSP
* EQUULEUS
* LunaH-Map
* Lunar Flashlight
* Lunar IceCube
* NEA Scout
* OMOTENASHI
* SkyFire
* Team Miles
* Artemis 2 (2022)
* Artemis 3 (2024)
* Artemis 4 (2025)
* Artemis 5 (2026)
* Artemis 6 (2027)
* Artemis 7 (2028)
* Artemis 8 (2028)

|

CLPS|

* CAPSTONE (December 2020)
* Nova-C (2021)
* Peregrine M1 (Jul 2021)
* VIPER (2022)

Luna-Glob|

* Luna 25 (2021)
* Luna 26 (2024)
* Luna 27 (2025)
* Luna 28 (2027)
* Luna 29 (2028)
* Luna 30 (2028)
* Luna 31 (2028)

CLEP|

* Chang'e 5 (mid-2020)
* Chang'e 6 (2023–2024)
* Chang'e 7 (2023)
* Chang'e 8 (2027)

Others|

* Moon Express Lunar Scout (Jul 2020)
* International Lunar Observatory
* MoonLIGHT
* ALINA (2021)
* CubeRover
* Uni
* Hakuto-R M1 (Oct 2021)
* MoonRanger (2022)
* SLIM (Jan 2022)
* KPLO (Jul 2022)
* DESTINY+ (2022)
* Hakuto-R M2 (Mar 2023)
* #dearMoon project (2023)

Proposed
missions|

| Robotic|

* Chandrayaan-3 (November 2020)
* Lunar Polar Exploration Mission (2024)
* Artemis-7
* Blue Moon
* BOLAS
* Garatéa-L
* ISOCHRON
* Lunar Pathfinder
* McCandless
* Moon Diver
* XL-1

|

Crewed|

* DSE-Alpha
* Lunar Gateway (Lockheed Martin Lunar Lander)
* Lunar Orbital Station

Cancelled /
concepts|

* Altair
* Baden-Württemberg 1
* European Lunar Explorer
* International Lunar Network
* LEO
* LK
* Lunar-A
* Lunar Lander
* Lunar Mission One
* Lunar Observer
* Lunokhod 3
* MoonLITE
* MoonRise
* Prospector
* Resource Prospector
* SELENE-2
* Ukrselena

See also|

* Colonization of the Moon
* Google Lunar X Prize
* List of lunar probes
* List of missions to the Moon
* List of artificial objects on the Moon
* Lunar resources
* Apollo 17 Moon mice
* Moon landing conspiracy theories
* Apollo 11 anniversaries
* List of crewed lunar lander designs

* Missions are ordered by launch date. Crewed missions are in italics.

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