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| | | | | | | | | ESMO orbiting the Moon © Uni. Southampton | |
ESMO mission
The European Student Moon Orbiter (ESMO) is planned to be the first European student mission to the Moon.
ESMO represents a unique and inspirational opportunity for university students, providing them with valuable and challenging hands-on space project experience in order to fully prepare a well qualified workforce for future ESA missions.
In addition, ESMO has a powerful education outreach aspect and strong attraction for younger students studying in high schools across Europe, by lowering the entry-level for lunar exploration to attainable university project activities. ESMO also represents an opportunity for students to contribute to the scientific knowledge and future exploration of the Moon by returning new data and testing new technologies.
Mission objectives
 To launch the first lunar spacecraft to be designed, built and operated by students across ESA Member States and ESA Cooperating States.
To place and operate the spacecraft in a lunar orbit.
- An on-board chemical propulsion system will be used to transfer the spacecraft from its initial Earth orbit to a polar orbit around the Moon via the Sun-Earth L1 Lagrange point over a period of 3 months; this is done to reduce propellant consumption.
To acquire images of the Moon from a stable lunar orbit and transmit them back to Earth for education outreach purposes.
- A 2.5 kg narrow angle camera will be used for providing medium-resolution images of the lunar surface at specific locations upon request from schools.
To perform new measurements relevant to advanced technology demonstration, lunar science and exploration.
- Payloads being studied are a small radar payload, a radiation monitor, a 2.5 kg passive microwave radiometer (temperature of the regolith a few metres below the surface), and a telecommunication experiment to test a lunar
internet protocol. All may be operated from the same orbit as the camera.
| | | Phase A design of the ESMO spacecraft |
ESMO in brief
ESMO is the fourth mission within ESA’s Education Satellite Programme and builds upon the experience gained with SSETI Express (launched into LEO in 2005), YES2 (launched in 2007) and ESEO (the European Student Earth Orbiter planned for launch into LEO in 2012). Some 200 students from 19 universities in 10 countries are participating in the project, which has successfully completed a Phase A Feasibility Study and is proceeding well with preliminary design activities in Phase B.
The ESMO spacecraft is designed to be launched into Geostationary Transfer Orbit (GTO) as a secondary payload in late 2013 or early 2014.
SSTL, as System Prime Contractor for ESA's Education Office, is managing the ESMO project and providing considerable system-level and specialist technical support to the university student teams during the implementation of the project. The participating
universities are to be finally decided at the upcoming System Requirements Review in March 2010.
The students obtain training and benefit from close interaction with technical experts during internships, in addition to the use of facilities at the Prime Contractor for spacecraft assembly, integration and testing.
The student teams are expected to provide most of the spacecraft subsystems, payload and ground support systems in coordination with their universities and SSTL in order to deliver their elements of the mission as part of their academic studies. Flight spare hardware is also donated by ESA where justified to lower project cost and risk.
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| | More information European Student Moon OrbiterTechnical factsCurrent teamsEuropean Student Earth OrbiterDocuments ESMO fact sheetRelated news Invitation to Tender for Student Moon OrbiterESMO call for proposals for new student teamsStudent teams needed for moon missionCall for interest for ESEO and ESMO projectsRelated links EMITS NewsRegister for ESA Education projects 
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