As part of the Lunar GNSS Receiver Experiment (LuGRE) experiment, NASA and the Italian Space Agency kickstarted a new era of navigation on the lunar surface.

NASA and the Italian Space Agency made history on March 3 when the Lunar GNSS Receiver Experiment (LuGRE) became the first technology demonstration to acquire and track Earth-based navigation signals on the moon's surface.

“On Earth we can use GNSS signals to navigate in everything from smartphones to airplanes,” Kevin Coggins, deputy associate administrator for NASA’s SCaN (Space Communications and Navigation) Program, said in a statement. “Now, LuGRE shows us that we can successfully acquire and track GNSS signals at the Moon.”

Nasa has succeeded in picking up GPS signals on the surface of the Moon for the first time. This breakthrough paves the way for new opportunities in