Science
LINUSS1
Lunar Navigation Technology Demonstrator · NASA / Advanced Space
Right now
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LINUSS 1 is quietly practicing for a GPS system that doesn't orbit Earth — it orbits the Moon. Part of a two-satellite pair, LINUSS tests the navigation and positioning technology NASA will need for its planned lunar GPS network, LunaNet, meant to give future Artemis astronauts and robotic landers the same kind of reliable positioning on the Moon that GPS provides on Earth today. Right now there is no such system; a lunar lander has to navigate largely blind, using onboard cameras and pre-mapped terrain. LINUSS is a small, unglamorous first step toward fixing that.
Its orbit
- Orbit
- Geostationaryappears to hang motionless over one spot on the equator
- Altitude
- 22,433–22,478 mi (36,103–36,174 km)
- Inclination
- 5.6°
- One orbit
- 24.2 hoursabout one orbit a day
- NORAD ID
- 55246
- Int’l designator
- 2022-144G
- Launched
- 2022
Orbital elements from CelesTrak, as of 22 Sep 2026.
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