Two Scanway projects advance to ESA Phase A Lunar Missions

Scanway supports lunar exploration – two of the Company’s projects have been shortlisted for ESA’s initial Phase A programme

Scanway, a leading Polish technology company in the New Space sector, has been selected to support projects under the Small Lunar Missions programme, an initiative of the European Space Agency (ESA). A total of 62 projects have been submitted to the programme, and 7 of them have qualified for the preliminary phase A stage. Scanway is a consortium partner in 2 projects, Mani and LUMI. The commencement of work on the lunar missions is scheduled for December 2024, and the Mani project has recently been initiated. Scanway’s involvement in this initiative represents a strategic expansion of its product portfolio to encompass solutions beyond the EO (Earth Observation) domain, along with a significant step in the company’s participation in the emerging lunar economy.

Mani is a project to perform photometric mapping of the lunar surface with the highest spatial resolution to date – at the micrometer scale. Improving the precision of topographic maps of the Moon will allow better preparation of exploration missions, and verification of the photometric potential of the solution could support future missions to other regions of space.

LUMI will focus on high-resolution imaging of the Moon’s surface, enabling the creation of digital elevation models of the South Pole regions. These models will provide valuable data for future landings and operations on the Moon’s surface for ESA, NASA and commercial and institutional entities.

The Mani and LUMI projects are being carried out under the European Space Agency (ESA) Terrae Novae programme, which aims to develop space exploration, including the Moon. Ultimately, ESA will select up to two projects in the Small Lunar Missions programme to be launched within four to four and a half years, with the total cost of implementing each project close to €50 million.

In 2023, Poland increased its contribution to ESA’s European Exploration Envelope Programme (E3P) by €100 million, demonstrating a strong commitment to the strategic directions set by the Terrae Novae programme.

„Scanway is proud to announce that two of our innovative projects have been shortlisted by the European Space Agency for the preparation of initial Phase A lunar missions. This is a great distinction and at the same time a high exposure to the benefits of the Small Lunar Missions Programme within the broad Terrae Novae initiative directed at the exploration of space, including the Moon. Scanway is committed to fostering collaboration with leading private enterprises and scientific institutions, such as TRL Space from the Czech Republic and the Danish Space Inventor, with whom we have recently established a cooperative agreement. The programme will facilitate the exchange of expertise, the establishment of relationships, and the development of joint initiatives that have the potential to be deployed to the Moon within the next four years. Each project will have a budget of up to €50 million. These are the key benefits we identify as part of our participation in the programme.” – says Mikołaj Podgórski, COO and co-founder of Scanway S.A.

The Mani project

Mani is a lunar orbiter mission that will map the lunar surface with the highest spatial resolution to date. With an exploration strategy based on polygonal photometric mapping, the project will provide sub-pixel information about the microstructure of the lunar surface at the micrometer level, as well as significantly improving elevation maps. This will facilitate and reduce the risk of future exploration missions, as well as initiate new scientific research by providing valuable data to complement existing orbital information sets for the lunar surface. Confirmation of the potential in the photometric approach can also support future exploration missions, including to further regions of space. Improved quantification of the Moon’s reflectance function will also improve observations of the Earth by using the Moon as a calibration source, as well as improving climate models of the Earth.

The project is carried by three entities: the consortium leader, the University of Copenhagen, and the consortium members, Scanway S.A. and Space Inventor. The project also assumes the participation and advice of eight partners, who will be supplying selected solutions to the University of Copenhagen and Space Inventor. The budget for the initial phase A of the project, as funded by ESA, is €150,000, with Scanway accounting for approximately 30% of this budget. The project is scheduled to be implemented within a period of six months.

The LUMI project

LUMI (Lunar Mapper and Inspector) aims to take high-resolution images of the lunar surface from multiple viewing angles to produce improved digital elevation models of the South Pole regions. These models will support landings, mission planning and surface operations for ESA, NASA and other institutional and commercial missions. LUMI will use a multifunctional propulsion system to achieve targeted high-resolution observations in a challenging orbit with low perigee and high eccentricity. The planned intensive exploration of the Moon requires advanced remote imaging systems, similar to the technologies used in Earth Observation satellites. LUMI, as an easily replicable mission based on commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) components, will address this need. The project comprises eight entities: consortium leader TRL Space from the Czech Republic and consortium members Scanway S.A., CrystalSpace, Tartu Observatory, Tyvak, RCAES, Dawn Aerospace, and ZAITRA. The budget for the initial ESA-funded Phase A project is €150,000, with a scheduled implementation timeframe of six months.

“The Mani and LUMI projects are perfectly in line with Terrae Novae’s objectives to provide both innovative technological solutions and the scientific data needed for future space missions. The intention to complete the entire project in 4 years, from the initial Phase A to the launch of the satellite, is an ambitious development of Europe’s exploration capabilities, and we are delighted to be part of two of the seven projects that have the chance to progress to the next stages. The experience that the European space sector will gain will be of great importance in strengthening Europe’s role in space exploration, including the strategic direction related to the exploration of the Moon and plans to establish a permanent human presence on its surface,“ – says Oskar Zdunek, Business Development Manager of Scanway S.A.

The value of investment in lunar missions will rise from $11 billion in 2023 to nearly $17 billion planned in 2032, according to a report by Euroconsult. Plans by major countries such as the US and China to establish a permanent presence on the Moon are driving global investment in manned, observation and robotic missions that will build key orbital and transportation infrastructure.

Scanway S.A. has been actively supporting the development of the space economy for several years. The company’s optical solutions have been included in the most important European and Polish space missions until 2024. The company executes some of Poland’s largest space equipment contracts (including for commercial customers) and is a key consortium member in Poland’s largest space projects (including EagleEye and PIAST). In July this year, the company placed its equipment (Scanway Camera System) on the inaugural flight of Europe’s largest launcher, Ariane 6.