Johns Hopkins APL Teaming With DARPA to Accelerate Interoperability Standards for Commercial Lunar Infrastructure

The Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory (APL) in Laurel, Maryland, is applying its expertise in lunar science and technology to a Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) initiative to identify and propose interoperating standards for commercial infrastructure on the Moon.

APL will manage and provide technical leadership for the Lunar Operating Guidelines for Infrastructure Consortium (LOGIC), through which DARPA aims to convene stakeholders across industry, academia and government to identify critical lunar infrastructure interoperability and interface needs. Where appropriate, LOGIC will encourage the community to develop operational guidelines and pathways to close interoperability gaps.

Working closely with NASA’s Lunar Surface Innovation Initiative (LSII) and Lunar Surface Innovation Consortium (LSIC), LOGIC seeks to accelerate the development of consensus-driven interoperability standards in areas such as power distribution, communications, positioning, navigation and timing, lunar surface surveying, and cislunar space traffic control. APL operates LSIC and LSII in collaboration with NASA’s Space Technology Mission Directorate. Hundreds of universities and businesses are participating in NASA’s Artemis lunar exploration program through this consortium.

“We are proud to support DARPA and NASA in achieving their integrated goals in the cislunar domain,” said Bobby Braun, head of APL’s Space Exploration Sector. “Whether for scientific, security or economic objectives, development of cislunar technology has long been a focus at APL. We are excited to apply our team’s capabilities to the benefit of our nation.”

DARPA recently initiated its 10-Year Lunar Architecture (LunA-10) capability study, looking to spur the development of a civil lunar framework for peaceful U.S. and international use. It seeks to rapidly develop foundational technology concepts that move away from individual efforts, toward a series of shareable, scalable systems that interoperate and create monetizable services for future lunar users.

DARPA and NASA are working closely together to leverage the expertise of the LSII and LSIC communities and bring decades of operational experience to bear. Through LOGIC, APL will facilitate working groups focused on the benefits of standardization and modular components, assess the impact of potential technologies on the broader space community, and develop community-recommended solution paths to close interoperability gaps.

“There are many opportunities for these communities to collaborate,” said LSIC Director Jamie Porter, from APL. “Where there is synergy between LOGIC and the LSIC teams, we envision leveraging the community’s collective expertise.”