More than a mission.

Europe’s next step toward the Moon.

More than a mission.

Europe’s next step toward the Moon.

Where lunar exploration becomes operational

MoonRAD is a European lunar exploration mission designed to monitor and understand the radiation and space weather environment around the Moon — enabling the next era of robotic and human exploration beyond Earth.

Operating in lunar orbit, the mission will provide continuous in-situ measurements of energetic particles, plasma conditions, and radiation dynamics to improve understanding of one of the most critical challenges of deep space exploration: the lunar radiation environment.

Mission Prime for the Next Era of Lunar Exploration

Developed within the framework of the European Space Agency’s exploration and space safety initiatives, MoonRAD brings together European industrial, scientific, and technological expertise under a Hungarian-led consortium, with REMRED acting as Mission Prime — strengthening Europe’s capabilities in lunar SmallSat missions, operational space weather services, and future exploration systems.

The mission is being developed as an international collaboration across the European space ecosystem, integrating partners from industry, science, and technology to advance the next generation of lunar exploration capabilities.

From Concept to Lunar Orbit

At the heart of the mission is MoonRAD, a rapid-development lunar SmallSat demonstrator built to validate new operational approaches in lunar environmental monitoring and near-real-time space weather services at the Moon. The mission combines flight-proven payload technologies, agile SmallSat engineering, and operational mission architecture to deliver a fast, scalable, and cost-efficient exploration capability.

MoonRAD is designed not only as a scientific mission, but as an operational capability demonstrator supporting the future of lunar exploration. Its objectives include enabling improved mission planning, supporting spacecraft anomaly analysis, enhancing radiation risk assessment, and contributing to safer long-duration lunar operations.

As the first step toward a future MoonRAD constellation, the mission establishes the foundations for a European lunar space weather monitoring infrastructure capable of supporting sustained exploration activities in cislunar space and around the Moon.