It’s possible that when humans return to the Moon in the coming years, the system that will help them navigate this inhospitable and unreferenced terrain has been developed by a Spanish company. Called LUPIN, it was designed by the technology company GMV and is intended to enable precise, real-time positioning on the lunar surface.
In short, it’s the equivalent of a spatial Google Maps, but without the need for ground coverage.
GMV, a Madrid-based company that has been working with ESA and NASA on navigation systems for years, developed this system as part of the European Space Agency’s (ESA) Navigation Support and Innovation Program (NAVISP).
The goal is to test new positioning, navigation, and time synchronization (PNT) techniques relevant to lunar surface exploration. According to the Spanish company, these technologies will combine existing planetary PNT methods with future ranging signals from the Lunar Communication Navigation System (LCNS) – satellite signals used similarly to GPS signals on Earth, but from satellites orbiting the Moon.
In other words, it will deploy a constellation of satellites in lunar orbit, enabling navigation and communication similar to what we are used to on Earth.
Why a Lunar Navigation System is Needed
Currently, space missions that land on the lunar surface must calculate their position using signals sent from Earth or from complex onboard sensors. This is because, unlike Earth, the Moon lacks an infrastructure for tracking satellites such as GPS.
This leads to delays, errors, and areas without coverage, especially in regions like the Moon’s south pole, which are critical for future missions, as well as on the far side of the satellite.
LUPIN (Lunar Pathfinder Inertial Navigation) breaks with this model. It doesn’t rely directly on a connection to Earth. Instead, it captures navigation signals from orbiting satellites and combines them with inertial sensors and cameras to enable faster, more continuous, and more reliable localization.
As GMV explains, this advancement will not only improve accuracy but also enable faster and more efficient routes while reducing the computational burden for navigation. As a result, the rover’s speed will be determined primarily by terrain conditions rather than technical limitations, marking “the beginning of a new era in automated lunar exploration.”
The Canary Islands as a Testing Ground for LUPIN
To test the technology, the GMV team traveled to a place that bears a striking resemblance to the moon: Fuerteventura’s Volcanoes Natural Park. There, they simulated a real space mission in dry and rocky terrain and tested LUPIN with excellent results.
Steven Kay, head of the LUPIN project at GMV, reports that during the tests in La Oliva, they managed to collect more than 7 kilometers of travel data at various speeds—from the traditional 0.2 m/s to future rapid speeds of 1.0 m/s.
Even during these exercises, night tests were conducted, using a combination of simulated sunlight to mimic lunar lighting conditions and complete darkness, using only the rover’s onboard lights for navigation.
Spain Positions Itself in the Space Race
Although it sounds like science fiction, lunar exploration is accelerating: NASA plans to return to the Moon with Artemis III in 2027, China intends to launch manned missions before 2030, and several agencies are investigating how to install permanent bases. All of this requires robust navigation systems, and Spain has taken the lead with this innovation.
The LUPIN system isn’t just for orientation; It could also facilitate spacecraft landings, coordination between robots and astronauts, and the transport of resources in future lunar colonies. In short, it could be the most technologically advanced compass in history—and it would operate more than 380,000 kilometers from Earth.
