The Moonlight Initiative is a project by the European Space Agency with the goal of providing support for space companies in Europe to create uninterrupted telecommunications satellite coverage between Earth and the Moon, facilitating future lunar projects.[1]
The ESA states that it intends to work in partnership with NASA in "creating lasting telecommunications and navigation links with the moon",[2] involving the adoption of the LunaNet specifications.[3]
The stated end goal of the Moonlight project is to make it easier for companies to build infrastructure (i.e. mining, utilities, power, etc.) on the Moon, culminating in a sustained long-term human presence. Their website envisions a thriving lunar economy that provides jobs and "commercial opportunities" to develop new technologies needed to progress humanity's presence on the Moon and on other planets. On 9 October 2023, the ESA launched "a competition for visionary business ideas" for such technologies, and expects to offer contracts to develop those ideas.[4]