A novel design for a communication lunar lander sponsored by Comsat Architects as a senior project with Case Western Reserve University students. As NASA and industry develop more and more presence on and around the Moon – such as rovers, CubeSats, and the next American astronauts – their need for effective, efficient communications in the lunar vicinity and with Earth will become more critical.

The students’ lander was designed to provide communications support for NASA’s Artemis lunar mission and Commercial Lunar Payload Services (CLPS) program as these missions develop. The lander is designed to provide the services needed to streamline how vital data moves from the Moon back to Earth. The lander’s communications system can support both NASA and commercial lunar surface assets and connect with CubeSats and smallsats orbiting the Moon. It is intended to ease communications congestion around the Moon by acting as a communications hub.

Comsat Architects provided the CWRU team with key information needed to begin their project, such as data on the communications components and lunar network links. Our team was also on hand to answer the students’ questions throughout the project. The design work, though, was all the product of the CWRU team. They created the structural design and model, performed all of the calculations and analyses, and determined an optimum site on which to land their spacecraft based on access to light and communications connectivity. Comsat Architects is proud to participate in projects like this which support the growth of the next generation of aerospace professionals.