LightShip (spacecraft)

LightShip is a proposed class of uncrewed interplanetary spacecraft under development by the European Space Agency (ESA) that will serve as a space tug for transporting payloads to Mars and provide communication, navigation, and weather monitoring services from a high Mars orbit. It will use its onboard solar electric propulsion to transport other spacecraft to vicinity of Mars and after the payload separates, LightShip will move to a high orbit of nearly 6000 km above the surface to form part of the Mars Communication and Navigation Infrastructure.

Name

It is named after a lightship—a ship that acts as a lighthouse. ESA specifically cites the East Goodwin lightship whose captain sent the first radio distress signal using Guglielmo Marconi's wireless technology in 1899.

Missions

If approved, the first LightShip mission will take place in 2032. Subsequent launch windows open in 2035 and 2037.

''LightShip-1'' and ''SpotLight''

The first mission of LightShip will deliver a Mars surface-imaging orbiter called SpotLight. Its primary payload will be high resolution and medium-resolution context cameras. SpotLight will separate from LightShip-1 during the interplanetary cruise and enter Martian orbit using its own propulsion. LightShip-1 will then enter into its own operational orbit to demonstrate its MARCONI communications and navigation systems.