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Africa2Moon

Africa2Moon is Africa's first space exploration mission, a historic milestone for the continent.

Launching in 2029 aboard China's Chang'e-8 mission, this pioneering project deploys a novel low-frequency radio telescope array on the lunar surface, one of the most extreme environments in the Solar System.

The mission deploys three autonomous spherical antennas called BALLS (Bounced African Lunar Low Spheres), each just 30 centimetres in diameter. These innovative instruments detect radio signals below 20 MHz, frequencies impossible to observe from Earth due to atmospheric interference, conducting radio astronomy not possible from our planet.

Phase 1 (2023)

Application

FSDA responded to China's Chang'e-8 international cooperation announcement with a proposal for three low-frequency radio telescope spheres to be deployed on the lunar surface, spaced tens of metres apart to form an interferometric array.
Phase 2 (2024)

Selection

On 24 April 2025 in Shanghai, Africa2Moon was selected as an international payload for the Chang'e-8 mission, alongside payloads from Bahrain, Egypt, Hong Kong, Iran, Italy, Pakistan, Russia, Thailand, and Turkey.
Phase 3 (2025-2026)

Test Model

FSDA develops two critical test models: an electrical functional model demonstrating how the antennas and systems integrate with the lander, and a structural model proving the design can withstand launch forces, extreme temperatures, vacuum, and reduced lunar gravity. Phase concludes March 2026.
Phase 4 (2026-2027)

Flight Model

The final flight-ready system undergoes rigorous testing to meet all lander integration requirements. The completed Flight Model delivers to China in August 2027, ready for its mission to the lunar surface.
Phase 5 (2029)

Launch & Deployment

The integrated payload launches aboard the Chang'e-8 lander, executes precision landing on the near side of the south pole region, and deploys the four BALLS antennas. The spheres calculate their relative positions to optimize the array's performance.
Phase 6 (2029-2030)

Science Operations

The antennas collect low-frequency radio signals from the Universe, relay data back to Earth for correlation and analysis. For the first year, data remains exclusive to Chinese and African principal investigators and their teams. Subsequently, data becomes publicly available for the global scientific community.
The Future

Full Africa2Moon Array

This 3-BALLS array serves as pathfinder technology and demonstrator for the full Africa2Moon mission: deploying 55 antennas on the lunar farside—one for each nation in Africa—in a future mission.
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