Break Record, NASA Successfully Receives GPS Signal On Moon

JAKARTA NASA and the Italian Space Agency made unusual achievements on March 3, 2025. The two space agencies managed to receive the first satellite-based navigation signal on the Moon.

This success was achieved thanks to the Moon GNSS Recipient Experiment (LUGRE), a payload transported to Earth's natural satellite and landed recently. NASA says that LuGRE managed to track the navigation signals they activated on Earth.

Through this success, NASA said that signals from the Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) were proven acceptable on the Moon. That way, NASA can carry out lunar exploration without problems by utilizing GNSS.

In the future, the Artemis program or other exploration missions can use GNSS to accurately determine the position, speed, and time. This will be an advancement for the space industry.

"The LOGRE shows us that humans can or successfully obtain and track GNSS signals on the Moon. This is a very interesting discovery for lunar navigation, and we look forward to utilizing this capability for future missions," said Kevin Coggins, Deputy Administrator of the NASA Association.

This is not the only achievement LuGRE has achieved. The cargo also managed to break the GNSS record during a trip to the Moon. On January 21, 2025, LuGRE managed to obtain a GNSS signal at its highest altitude, which is 209,900 miles from Earth.

This is the highest record set from NASA's Multiscale Magnetosphere mission. In fact, this record continues to grow and peaks appear on February 20, when the payload is at an altitude of 243,000 miles from Earth.