On October 20, 2026, the European Space Agency (ESA) said Lunar Link had completed its final major integration and testing campaign at Thales Alenia Space in Cannes, France. ESA described the communications system as flight-ready after ground tests, including a successful end-to-end demonstration with equipment simulating a user on the Moon.
Lunar Link is designed to connect spacecraft in lunar orbit with people on the Moon’s surface. The reported milestone covers the system’s development and ground testing; the demonstration itself took place on Earth.
What Lunar Link’s ground campaign covered
ESA said the complete system passed an environmental test campaign. Engineers connected it to two high-gain antennas for the first test of the full system, and ESA also reported a balloon-assisted antenna-deployment test during summer 2026.
The communications demo used a simulated lunar user
In summer 2026, NASA Johnson Space Center supplied racks that simulated a user on the Moon for an end-to-end communications demonstration with Lunar Link. ESA said the test succeeded and included encryption. The setup let the teams test the communications chain on the ground with a simulated user.
From Gateway to possible future uses
Lunar Link was originally intended for NASA’s HALO habitation module on Gateway. ESA said Gateway plans changed in March 2026. The project’s prime contractor, Thales Alenia Space, hosted the final campaign in Cannes, with teams in France, Belgium, Spain and Italy. ESA also names MDA in the United Kingdom and SENER in Spain as contributors.
In July 2026, ESA issued an invitation to tender for studies on delivering Lunar Link to lunar orbit and operating it as an independent communications system. One possible relay arrangement would need an additional antenna to provide a link to Earth. ESA also identified possible cooperation with Moonlight and opportunities for additional scientific or technology payloads.
ESA said the qualification and acceptance review with Thales Alenia Space began in September 2026 and was expected to finish by year-end. In its October 20 report, ESA described a final software update and controlled storage as steps planned after the review.
