Field trial of LunaSAR: Evaluating a resilient emergency communications system for future lunar search and rescue service

Future lunar missions necessitate resilient and reliable communications systems to support astronaut safety in the Moon's challenging environment. This paper describes initial field trial results from an emergency communications system to assist future Lunar Search and Rescue. This forms part of an international effort towards the standardisation of LunaSAR, a potential future component within the LunaNet architecture which is being developed to provide Artemis with communications and navigation interoperability. South Australia has vast areas of remote and harsh terrain with limited infrastructure, suitable for simulating the Lunar environment. Several test sites were surveyed for emergency scenarios with low radio interference. To evaluate the effectiveness of the novel communications technology, test cases were developed to support lunar scenarios based on inputs from the NASA Search and Rescue Office which is observing the project for potential future applications for crewed lunar exploration. The demonstration system uses an innovative low power radio technology, tested with the Medium Earth Orbiting (MEO) Galileo satellites used for the Cospas-Sarsat (C/S) Search and Rescue (SAR) system. This is the first demonstration of the LunaSAR scenario with two-way voice and text over the allocated 406 MHz band. This is a step towards improved safety for astronauts during Extra Vehicular Activities (EVA) when long-term human presence is established on the lunar surface.