lunartime.org

Mission

LunaNet

In development, run by NASA. Window as our sources word it: No date in our sources.

At a glance

Every value in this table comes from the entry in our missions registry; the window is printed in the words of the source, never converted into a date of our own.
FieldValue
OperatorNASA
StatusIn development
WindowNo date in our sources
Address we linkwww.nasa.gov
Partners named in our sourcesNone
Documents on this site1 document
Papers on this siteNone yet
Facts on this page4, each with its own source

Key facts

  • NASA states that it will develop a lunar time standard for its own missions and for LunaNet. [1]Official
  • A common lunar reference time is one of the requirements of the LunaNet framework of standards, protocols and interface requirements. [2]Official
  • Reporting of 25 June 2026 described Coordinated Lunar Time as the basis for NASA's LunaNet. [3]
  • The 2024 memorandum requires four features of a celestial time standard: traceability to UTC, accuracy for navigation, resilience to loss of contact, and scalability. [4]Official

In short

LunaNet is a framework rather than a spacecraft: agreed standards, protocols and interface requirements so that lunar communication and navigation services from different agencies work together. NASA states that it will develop a lunar time standard for its own missions and for LunaNet, and a common lunar reference time is one of the framework's requirements. Our registry gives no date for the framework itself, so the window on this page says that rather than naming a year. No such service is running, and no lunar time scale has been realized anywhere.

Every clock value on this site is a model value computed from published rate figures: no lunar time scale has been realized, and nothing on this page is a reading taken from a clock on the Moon[5]. The record itself sits inthe list of missions, its operator has a record of its own in National Aeronautics and Space Administration, and what a microsecond is worth in metres is inwhy microseconds matter.

Each point in the section below rests on a source listed at the foot of this page; where the point is our own arithmetic rather than someone else's document, it says so and the model is set out inhow we calculate lunar time.

Why time matters here

  1. The framework exists so that missions from different agencies interoperate, and a common lunar reference time is one of the requirements it carries.
  2. The 2024 memorandum states that a standard defined near the lunar gravitational environment lets assets synchronize with an accuracy that supports precision navigation and science.
  3. Every lunar clock value we publish is a model value computed from published rates, and the model itself is set out on our methodology page.

Where this record connects

Operator

Documents

Other missions

Sources

  1. NASA to Develop Lunar Time Standard for Exploration Initiatives — NASA, . Official document. Verified .
  2. Telling time on the Moon — European Space Agency, . Official document. Verified .
  3. What time is it on the moon? The US and China disagree — Space.com (Tom Brown), . Press. Verified .
  4. Policy on Celestial Time Standardization — White House Office of Science and Technology Policy, . Official document. Verified .
  5. Our calculation: the lunartime.org clock model — Lunartime Editorial, . Our calculation. Verified .

Last verified