The European Student Moon Orbiter (ESMO) is planned to be the first European student mission to the Moon

Moon

The Moon is Earth's only known natural satellite,There are a number of near-Earth asteroids including 3753 Cruithne that are co-orbital with Earth: their orbits bring them close to Earth for periods of time but then alter in the long term . These are quasi-satellites and not true moons. For more...

. Currently student teams from 19 universities throughout Europe are working on the program.
ESMO was conceived by the Student Space Exploration & Technology Initiative

Student Space Exploration & Technology Initiative

The Student Space Exploration & Technology Initiative is a unique project put into execution by students from different universities spread over European countries...

 under the support of the European Space Agency

European Space Agency

The European Space Agency , established in 1975, is an intergovernmental organisation dedicated to the exploration of space, currently with 18 member states...

 (ESA); prior to the start of Phase A the full responsibility for the management of the program was transferred to the ESA Education Office.
In 2009, Surrey Satellite Technology Ltd

Surrey Satellite Technology Ltd

Surrey Satellite Technology Ltd, or SSTL, is a spin-off company of the University of Surrey, now fully owned by EADS Astrium, that builds and operates small satellites. Its satellites began as amateur radio satellites known by the UoSAT name or by an OSCAR designation...

 (SSTL) was selected as prime contractor. ESMO is scheduled for launch in late 2013 or early 2014.

Objectives

The mission objectives for ESMO are:

• 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.
• To acquire images of the Moon from a stable lunar orbit and transmit them back to Earth for education outreach purposes.
• To perform new measurements relevant to advanced technology demonstration, lunar science and exploration.

The educational aim of the project is to provide valuable hands-on experience to university students within a real and demanding space project. This is in order to fully prepare a well qualified workforce for ambitious future ESA missions.

Lunar Transfer

The spacecraft of approximately 190 kg mass and a size of 76 x 74 x 74 cm is designed to be launched as a secondary or auxiliary payload into Geostationary transfer orbit

Geostationary transfer orbit

A geosynchronous transfer orbit or geostationary transfer orbit is a Hohmann transfer orbit used to reach geosynchronous or geostationary orbit....

 in late 2013 / early 2014.
From there, the spacecraft uses its on-board propulsion to travel to lunar orbit via a weak stability boundary transfer. This travel via the Sun-Earth L1 Lagrange point takes three months, but it requires much less propellant than a direct transfer (see Interplanetary Transport Network

Interplanetary Transport Network

The Interplanetary Transport Network is a collection of gravitationally determined pathways through the solar system that require very little energy for an object to follow. The ITN makes particular use of Lagrange points as locations where trajectories through space are redirected using little...

).
ESMO is intended to be operated in lunar orbit for six months.

Payloads

Payloads being studied are:

• Narrow Angle Camera (outreach payload): to take images of the lunar surface. High school students will be able to propose a lunar site to be imaged.
• LunaNet (technology demonstration payload): internet-like network at the Moon for communication between future spacecraft in lunar orbit, landers, rovers and ground stations on the Earth. The LunaNet experiment will test the associated communication protocols for the Lunar Internet.
• Radiation Monitor (scientific payload): a compact and low power radiation monitor which can provide inputs for Space environment
  Space environment
  Space environment is a branch of astronautics, aerospace engineering and space physics that seeks to understand and address conditions existing in space that affect the operation of spacecraft...
  
   models.
• Radar (scientific payload): to provide radar observations of the Moon. (radar observations from Earth are limited to the Earth-facing side of the Moon).
• Microwave Radiometric Sounder (scientific payload): a passive Microwave radiometer
  Microwave radiometer
  A microwave radiometer is a radiometer that measures energy emitted at sub-millimetre-to-centimetre wavelengths known as microwaves. Their primary application has been onboard spacecraft measuring atmospheric and terrestrial radiation, and they are mostly used for meteorological or oceanographic...
  
   to measure thermal and dielectric properties of the lunar regolith
  Regolith
  Regolith is a layer of loose, heterogeneous material covering solid rock. It includes dust, soil, broken rock, and other related materials and is present on Earth, the Moon, some asteroids, and other terrestrial planets and moons.-Etymology:...
  
  .

Technical Facts

The table below provides an overview of the spacecraft platform and the ground segment.

Subsystem	Description
Attitude Determination and Control System (ADCS)	3-axis stabilized: 2 star trackers, 4 sun sensors, 2 inertial measurement units, 4 reaction wheels, 8 cold gas thrusters
On-board Data Handling	2 ESA LEON2 processors (dual redundant) running data handling software (command timeline and simple FDIR) and ADCS software; 32 MB Serial Flash for payload data storage; CANbus data interfaces
Communications	Low Gain Antennas for omni-directional coverage; S-band transponder with PSK-PM modulation and range & range rate capability for radio-navigation; 8 kbit/s downlink / 4 kbit/s uplink between Moon and Earth stations
Power	Body-mounted 3J GaAs solar cells for 170 W beginning of life power & 122 W end of life power; 24-29 V unregulated bus; 1800 Wh capacity Li-ion batteries
Propulsion	4 liquid MON/MMH bipropellant thrusters: 22 N thrust each, 285 s specific impulse (modulated by AOCS software during burns for reaction control)
Structure	CFRP/Al honeycomb construction box with load bearing central thrust tube
Thermal Control	Passive: MLI & surface coatings; active: local heaters for eclipse (e.g. propellant tanks)
Ground Segment	Ground stations: 25m S-band dish in Raisting and 15m S-band dish in Villafranca; Perth/Kourou for launch and early orbit phase and manoeuvres

Current Teams

21 teams from 19 European universities in ESA member states and cooperating states are currently part of the project. Their involvement and responsibilities will be re-assessed in the System Requirements Review.

University	Country	Responsibilities
University of Liège University of Liège The University of Liège , in Liège, Wallonia, Belgium, is a major public university in the French Community of Belgium. Its official language is French.-History:...	Belgium	Narrow Angle Camera Payload
Czech Technical University in Prague Czech Technical University in Prague Czech Technical University in Prague is one of the largest universities in the Czech Republic, and the oldest institute of technology in Central Europe....	Czech Republic	AOCS Interface Module
University of Tartu University of Tartu The University of Tartu is a classical university in the city of Tartu, Estonia. University of Tartu is the national university of Estonia; it is the biggest and highest-ranked university in Estonia...	Estonia	Assembly, Integration and Verification and Satellite Operation
Supaero	France	Star Tracker
University of Stuttgart University of Stuttgart The University of Stuttgart is a university located in Stuttgart, Germany. It was founded in 1829 and is organized in 10 faculties....	Germany	Propulsion System - Gas Feed (Cold Gas Thruster)
Technische Universität München	Germany	LunaNet Payload & Ground Station
University of L'Aquila University of L'Aquila The University of L'Aquila is a university located in L'Aquila, central Italy. It was founded in 1964 and is organized in nine faculties.Presents a scientific-technological character with many research groups. Its faculties occupy a high position between the Italian universities...  and University of Rome La Sapienza University of Rome La Sapienza The Sapienza University of Rome, officially Sapienza – Università di Roma, formerly known as Università degli studi di Roma "La Sapienza", is a coeducational, autonomous state university in Rome, Italy...	Italy	Microwave Radiometer Scientific Payload
Politecnico di Milano	Italy	Attitude Determination and Control System
Politecnico di Milano	Italy	Propulsion System - Liquid Feed (Bipropellant Thruster)
Warsaw University of Technology Warsaw University of Technology The Warsaw University of Technology is one of the leading institutes of technology in Poland, and one of the largest in Central Europe. It employs 2,453 teaching faculty, with 357 professors . The student body numbers 36,156 , mostly full-time. There are 17 faculties covering almost all fields of...	Poland	Thermal Control Subsystem
Wroclaw University of Technology Wroclaw University of Technology Wrocław University of Technology is an autonomous technical university in Wrocław, Poland. With buildings dispersed throughout the city, its main facilities are gathered at a central location near Plac Grunwaldzki, alongside the Oder River...	Poland	Communications System
AGH University of Science and Technology AGH University of Science and Technology AGH University of Science and Technology is the second largest technical university in Poland, located in Kraków. The university was established in 1919, and was formerly known as the University of Mining and Metallurgy...	Poland	Space Environment & Effects Analysis
Politehnica University of Bucharest	Romania	Attitude Determination and Control System
Politehnica University of Bucharest	Romania	Structure
University of Bucharest University of Bucharest The University of Bucharest , in Romania, is a university founded in 1864 by decree of Prince Alexander John Cuza to convert the former Saint Sava Academy into the current University of Bucharest.-Presentation:...	Romania	Radiation Monitor Payload
University of Ljubljana University of Ljubljana The University of Ljubljana is the oldest and largest university in Slovenia. With 64,000 enrolled graduate and postgraduate students, it is among the largest universities in Europe.-Beginnings:...	Slovenia	Simulator
University of Ljubljana University of Ljubljana The University of Ljubljana is the oldest and largest university in Slovenia. With 64,000 enrolled graduate and postgraduate students, it is among the largest universities in Europe.-Beginnings:...	Slovenia	Radar Payload
University of Maribor University of Maribor The University of Maribor is the second university in Slovenia, established in 1975. It currently has 17 faculties.-History:The university's roots reach back to 1859, when a theological seminary was established with the encouragement of Maribor bishop and patriot Anton Martin Slomšek...	Slovenia	On-board Data Handling
University of Oviedo University of Oviedo The University of Oviedo is a public university in Asturias . It's the only university in the region. It has three campus and research centres, located in Oviedo, Gijón and Mieres.-History:...	Spain	Harness
University of Vigo University of Vigo The University of Vigo is a public university located in the city of Vigo, Galicia, Spain. There are three campuses:* Lagoas-Marcosende, between the municipalities of Vigo and Mos;* A Xunqueira, in Pontevedra;* As Lagoas, in Ourense;...	Spain	GS/OPS-V team. Ground Station VIL-1 team.
University of Glasgow University of Glasgow The University of Glasgow is the fourth-oldest university in the English-speaking world and one of Scotland's four ancient universities. Located in Glasgow, the university was founded in 1451 and is presently one of seventeen British higher education institutions ranked amongst the top 100 of the...	UK	Mission Analysis and Flight Dynamics
University of Southampton University of Southampton The University of Southampton is a British public university located in the city of Southampton, England, a member of the Russell Group. The origins of the university can be dated back to the founding of the Hartley Institution in 1862 by Henry Robertson Hartley. In 1902, the Institution developed...	UK	System Engineering
University of Warwick University of Warwick The University of Warwick is a public research university located in Coventry, United Kingdom...	UK	Power Subsystem

Led by ESA's Education Office at ESTEC, the project has successfully completed a Phase A feasibility study and continued with the preliminary design during phase B.
So far, more than 200 students have been involved in phases A and B of the ESMO project.

Since November 2009 SSTL coordinate and supervise the work of the students, providing system-level and specialist technical support.

Regular workshops at ESTEC and ESOC as well as internships at SSTL are organized to support the student teams in their ESMO related activities and provide training / knowledge transfer. Additionally, facilities at SSTL will be utilized for spacecraft assembly, integration and testing.

As a major milestone during phase B, the System Requirements Review (SRR) for ESMO was performed in 2010. At SRR the system requirements and system design were finalised. Part of the SRR also selected the university teams to participate in the following phases of the project.

ESMO is the fourth mission within ESA’s Education Satellite Programme following SSETI Express, YES2 and the European Student Earth Orbiter (ESEO).

External links

• http://www.esa.int/SPECIALS/Education/SEMZ2X22VBF_0.html ESMO Homepage of the ESA Education Office
• http://www.sstl.co.uk/Missions/Lunar_and_Interplanetary_Projects SSTL Homepage - Lunar and Interplanetary Projects