Jane Edwards
The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency will bring together government, industry, academia and international stakeholders through the Lunar Guidelines for Infrastructure Consortium to facilitate technical discussions and develop interoperability standards for commercial lunar infrastructure and related technologies.
The Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory will oversee LOGIC to help establish an independent, permanent forum that will serve as a venue for various stakeholders to collaborate in support of the lunar community, DARPA said Wednesday.
In August, DARPA launched the 10-year Lunar Architecture capability study, which intends to develop an analytical framework that could define opportunities for commercial and scientific activity on and around the lunar surface.
“Regular collaboration within the communities working on lunar technologies is key to an interoperable future that supports a diverse industrial base and facilitates efficient upgrades, maintenance, and repairability for commercial lunar services,” said Michael Nayak, program manager at DARPA’s Strategic Technology Office.
“While other efforts focus on technology development, LOGIC will zero in how systems work together. We’re looking for maximum participation from the public and private sectors and from international stakeholders,” added Nayak.
According to DARPA, LOGIC will work with NASA’s Lunar Surface Innovation Initiative and Lunar Surface Innovation Consortium to advance the development of technical interoperability standards in various areas, including communications, power distribution, lunar surface surveying, relative positioning and navigation methods and cislunar air and space traffic control.
