Goonhilly Earth Station helps historic Moon mission

Goonhilly staff celebrated when a signal was received from the spacecraft

A Cornwall-based satellite and space communications company has played a key role in landing a commercial spacecraft on the moon for the first time.

Goonhilly Earth Station helped Intuitive Machine's Odysseus mission, which landed near the lunar south pole.

The station's role was to provide tracking, telemetry, and control services - and it received the signal that confirmed the craft had landed.

Ian Jones for Goonhilly described the mission as a "milestone moment".

Odysseus is carrying scientific instruments that will help study the Moon's surface.

Mr Jones said: "This is a milestone moment for commercial space missions.

"Goonhilly's international expansion reinforces our dedication to meeting the growing demands of the space industry.

"We are at the forefront of space commercialisation and are excited to be driving the future of space communications and enabling the success of transformative missions like IM-1.

"We are thrilled to continue to provide sovereign capability from the UK to support the future of lunar and deep space exploration."

Goonhilly helped connect nine large antennas strategically positioned across seven global locations for the mission

Astronomer Royal for Scotland, Catherine Heymans, said people waiting for news were "nervously waiting" to hear if the craft had landed successfully on Thursday night.

She said: "It was the Goonhilly satellite earth station radio telescope in Cornwall that was searching and scanning for the signal from Odysseus.

Artwork: It took a few minutes to establish communications with the lander

"It was great to see the UK playing a big part in this space mission to the moon," she said.

Director of Investment at the UK Space Agency Dr Craig Brown said: "It's great to see that Goonhilly's unique space communications capabilities make it a partner of choice for many satellite companies, international space agencies and private mission operators such as Intuitive Machines."