Artemis: Cornwall's Goonhilly to support Nasa Moon mission

Image source, Lockheed Martin

The Goonhilly Earth Station is located in Cornwall.

The uncrewed capsule will be tracked and communicated with by the space communications center.

It is hoped that Artemis 1 will pave the way for crewed missions to the moon.

The live pictures of the Moon landing were fed by Goonhilly.

Image source, Goonhilly Earth Station

The capsule will be sent around the Moon and back to test systems and procedures before a crewed flight in 2024.

The capsule will be tracked over the course of six weeks.

• Goonhilly Earth Satellite station was built on Goonhilly Downs at a cost of £650,000
• The site was chosen because it was flat, giving a clear view of the horizon, and its hard rock surface could take the weight of the 1,118-tonne dish - officially named Antenna 1, but nicknamed Arthur
• Arthur is an 85ft (26m) wide dish and a Grade II listed structure
• On 11 July 1962, pictures from America were sent via the Telstar satellite to Goonhilly
• The project led the way to modern satellite communications

Goonhilly has supported a number of space missions.

Ian Jones is the chief executive of Goonhilly.

He said that the team has worked hard to get to this position.

The new chapter shows the validity of the commercial business model developed at Goonhilly.

Sue Horne, head of space exploration at the UK Space Agency, said Goonhilly's involvement was a significant step forward in the UK's ability to offer commercial lunar communications.

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