VMMO (Lunar Volatile and Mineralogy Mapping Orbiter)

Overview

VMMO is a 16U CubeSat equipped with the Lunar Volatiles and Mineralogy Mapper (LVMM), a multi-wavelength chemical Lidar system designed to explore the Moon's shadowed polar regions. The mission aims to enhance understanding of the distribution of water-ice and ilmenite in the lunar South Pole, with primary objectives to detect water-ice and other volatiles with precision better than 2% mass fraction in shadowed regions at the poles with resolution better than 10 meters. The spacecraft also includes the Compact LunAr Ionizing Radiation Environment (CLAIRE) payload to monitor radiation in cis-lunar space and the G3Star GNSS receiver for enhanced lunar data geolocation.

Key facts

Payload

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Reach

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Speed

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Weight

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IP rating

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Battery

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Power

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Autonomy

semi-autonomous

Launch year

2028

Price

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Status

active