A Return to the Moon—With 20th Century Infrastructure?
With the launch of Artemis II—the first crewed mission to the Moon in over 50 years—we are entering a new era of exploration.
But there’s a paradox.
While spacecraft, propulsion, and mission architectures have evolved dramatically, much of the communications infrastructure connecting Earth to deep space still resembles what powered Apollo.
At the center of this system is NASA’s Deep Space Network (DSN)—a remarkable engineering achievement, but one increasingly strained by modern demands.
The Bottleneck: Legacy Antennas in a Multi-Mission Era
The traditional model for deep space communications relies on a small number of very large antennas—often 30 to 70 meters in diameter—to communicate with distant spacecraft.
These systems:
- Deliver exceptional gain and sensitivity
- Are highly specialized and capital-intensive
- Represent single points of failure
- Are aging, with increasing maintenance demands
This architecture worked well when missions were infrequent and sequential.
But that paradigm is changing.
As Artemis II ramps up—alongside commercial lunar payloads, surface missions, and cislunar infrastructure—the number of simultaneous missions will increase significantly.
The future isn’t one spacecraft talking to Earth.
It’s dozens.
Scaling for Artemis II and Beyond
Artemis II is not just a mission—it’s a platform.
Over the coming decade, we can expect:
- Sustained human presence in lunar orbit and on the surface
- Commercial lunar delivery services
- Surface operations, habitats, and resource utilization
- Cislunar logistics and transportation networks
Each of these requires persistent, high-throughput, and reliable communication.
And critically: simultaneous access.
The current architecture was never designed for that level of concurrency.
A Shift in Thinking: From Dishes to Distributed Systems
A new paradigm is emerging—one that moves away from monolithic antennas toward distributed, scalable systems.
Instead of relying on a single large dish, multiple smaller antennas can be combined and operated as an array:
- Signals are coherently integrated to achieve equivalent or greater gain
- Capacity can be scaled incrementally as demand grows
- Systems can be dynamically allocated across missions
This approach introduces several advantages:
- Resilience: Eliminates single points of failure
- Flexibility: Supports multiple missions simultaneously
- Scalability: Capacity grows with demand
- Cost efficiency: Lower per-unit deployment and upgrade costs
Some providers are already investing in next-generation ground infrastructure, including mid-sized (15–20 meter) antennas designed to support lunar missions.
But even these may represent a transitional step toward more distributed architectures.
Beyond Line-of-Sight: The Role of Lunar Relay Networks
A fully realized lunar communications architecture will likely extend beyond direct-to-Earth links.
Instead, it will include a layered system:
- Lunar orbit relay satellites
- Surface-to-orbit communication links
- Distributed Earth-based ground networks
This architecture enables:
- Continuous coverage, including the lunar far side
- Reduced power requirements for surface systems
- Increased overall network capacity
NASA and commercial partners are actively exploring relay-based approaches as part of the broader Artemis ecosystem.
Dual-Use Infrastructure: A Hidden Advantage
One of the most compelling aspects of distributed ground systems is their multi-mission utility.
When the Moon is not in view, the same infrastructure can be repurposed to support:
- GEO missions
- Rendezvous and proximity operations (RPO)
- Earth observation and other commercial services
This transforms lunar communications from a niche capability into a high-utilization, revenue-generating platform.
The Opportunity: Building the Backbone of the Cislunar Economy
The transition to a new communications architecture is not just a technical evolution—it’s an economic one.
As activity in cislunar space increases, communications will become:
- A foundational layer of the ecosystem
- A key enabler of mission success
- A potential bottleneck if not scaled appropriately
Organizations that invest early in scalable, flexible infrastructure will help define how this ecosystem develops.
RBC Signals and the Path Forward
At RBC Signals, we see this transition as a natural extension of what is already happening in the ground segment.
Moving from:
- Static, mission-specific infrastructure
To:
- Dynamic, software-defined, globally distributed networks
The same principles transforming LEO, MEO, and GEO communications can—and must—be extended to lunar operations.
Final Thought
If Apollo demonstrated what was possible, Artemis II will define what is sustainable.
But sustainability requires infrastructure that matches ambition.
The Moon is within reach again.
Now we need a communications architecture ready to support it.