NASA Makes Historic Breakthrough: First Ever GPS Signals Tracked on the Moon

On March 3, 2025, NASA and the Italian Space Agency achieved a historic milestone with the Lunar GNSS Receiver Experiment (LuGRE), successfully acquiring and tracking Earth-based GNSS signals on the Moon. The LuGRE payload, delivered by Firefly Aerospace’s Blue Ghost lander, demonstrated that signals from GPS and Galileo constellations can be used for autonomous lunar navigation. This achievement marks a significant step toward reducing reliance on human operators for space missions.

LuGRE also set new records, including the highest altitude GNSS signal acquisition at 243,000 miles during its lunar orbit. The mission operates for 14 days, providing valuable data for future lunar and Mars exploration. This accomplishment is part of NASA’s Commercial Lunar Payload Services initiative and represents a milestone for the Italian Space Agency.

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• NASA Makes History with First-Ever GPS Signals Tracked on the Moon!

NASA Makes Historic Breakthrough: First Ever GPS Signals Tracked on the Moon

On March 3, 2025, NASA, in collaboration with the Italian Space Agency, achieved a historic milestone with the Lunar GNSS Receiver Experiment (LuGRE). This technology demonstration successfully acquired and tracked Earth-based GNSS signals on the Moon’s surface, marking the first time this has been accomplished.

The successful operation of the LuGRE payload aboard Firefly Aerospace’s Blue Ghost lunar lander paves the way for future lunar and Mars missions to use GNSS signals for precise and autonomous navigation. By acquiring signals from GPS and Galileo constellations, the experiment demonstrated that lunar missions could independently determine their position, velocity, and time, reducing reliance on ground-based tracking.

After the Blue Ghost lander touched down on March 2, the NASA team at Goddard Space Flight Center began operations and achieved the first-ever GNSS fix from the Moon’s surface on March 3, with the receiver operating 225,000 miles away from Earth. LuGRE also set records during its journey, surpassing previous altitude records for GNSS signal acquisition, reaching 243,000 miles as it entered lunar orbit on February 20.

This achievement, part of NASA’s Commercial Lunar Payload Services initiative, demonstrates the potential of GNSS for navigation in cislunar space and on the Moon, marking a significant step forward in autonomous spacecraft operations. The LuGRE mission is a joint effort between NASA, the Italian Space Agency, Qascom, and Politecnico di Torino, with funding from NASA’s SCaN Program.

NASA Makes History with First-Ever GPS Signals Tracked on the Moon!

NASA made history on March 3, 2025, by successfully using GPS on the Moon for the first time. The achievement was made possible through the Lunar GNSS Receiver Experiment (LuGRE), a collaboration between NASA and the Italian Space Agency, which tracked GPS signals on the lunar surface. This breakthrough means that future Artemis missions and other exploration missions could use these signals for precise, autonomous navigation, determining position, velocity, and time.

LuGRE was delivered to the Moon aboard Firefly Aerospace’s Blue Ghost lander, which landed on March 2. After touchdown, NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center operators began the first science operation. LuGRE successfully completed a navigation fix from about 225,000 miles away from Earth, and the technology will continue operating for 14 days to gather more data. This milestone is also significant for the Italian Space Agency as it marks the first Italian-developed hardware on the Moon.

LuGRE also set new records, surpassing the highest-ever GNSS signal acquisition altitude of 210,000 miles in January, which continued to increase as it reached 243,000 miles when entering lunar orbit. This demonstrates the potential for GNSS signals to aid navigation in cislunar space, the region between Earth and the Moon, enabling more accurate positioning for future lunar and deep space missions, reducing reliance on Earth-based tracking systems.