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]
Names | SkyFire |
---|---|
Mission type | Technology demonstrator, reconnaissance |
Operator | Lockheed Martin Space |
COSPAR ID | 2022-156K |
SATCAT no. | 57686 |
Mission duration | 1 year, 4 months and 28 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 | |
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]
LunIR was launched as one of ten CubeSats as a secondary payload on the maiden flight of the Space Launch System, Artemis 1.[2]
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]