Earth–Moon–Earth (EME) communication, also known as “Moon-bounce”, is a radio communication technique based on the propagation of radio waves emitted by a ground transmitter, which are reflected off the lunar surface and returned to a ground receiver. The average distance between the Earth and the Moon is approximately 384,000 km.
The experiment, carried out by Telespazio technicians using a parabolic antenna at the Lario Space Centre that routinely communicates with satellites in geostationary orbit approximately 36,000 kilometres from Earth, demonstrated the technical capabilities of the Italian site in the fields of radio-astronomical communication and space experimentation.
The antenna used, named LARIO 1, has a diameter of 32 metres and is equipped with a movement system enabling it to perform pointing, tracking, and tracing operations of artificial satellites, planets, and galaxies visible from the Lombardy teleport.
This type of experimentation is part of a context in which Telespazio, together with the broader contribution of Leonardo, plays a leading role. The company is indeed the prime contractor for the European Space Agency's (ESA) Moonlight programme, aimed at building a communication and navigation infrastructure in lunar orbit, the first system of its kind. In October 2024, Telespazio signed the LCNS (Lunar Communication and Navigation Services) contract with ESA, leading a European consortium that includes industrial and academic partners. The system, which envisages a constellation of five satellites in cislunar orbit, will support future human and robotic exploration missions, enabling precise lunar landings, surface navigation, and high-speed communications between the Moon and Earth. The first satellite, Lunar Pathfinder, is expected in orbit in 2027, with the system fully operational by 2031.
The bond between Telespazio and the Moon runs deep, having begun in July 1969, when a parabolic antenna at the Fucino Space Centre was among the first in Europe to receive and rebroadcast the television images of the Apollo 11 Moon landing, bringing one of the most extraordinary events in human history into the homes of Italians.
The Moon-bounce experiment took place during the closing event of the second edition of the “There’s Mail for E.T.” competition organised by the Italian National Institute for Astrophysics (INAF), under the patronage of the University of Urbino Carlo Bo, DIGIT srl, AMSAT Italia, and the Department of Industrial and Information Engineering and Economics (DIIIE) of the University of L’Aquila.