LUNA Analog Facility
The German Aerospace Center (DLR) and the European Space Agency (ESA) are jointly offering LUNA, a fundamental facility for the preparation of future human and robotic missions to the Moon at the Cologne site. With its unique infrastructure and the seamless integration into the campus, LUNA enables complex simulations for lunar surface activities of astronauts and robotic systems. LUNA thus is an important and relevant part within existing international capabilities.
LUNA establishes an internationally distinct and visible competence centre for Moon activities as German-European contribution to the continued exploration of space.
News
How uniform is our test field? Characterizing geotechnical properties of the regolith simulant in LUNA
When entering LUNA, the regolith yard appears like a featureless, uniform grey mass of grains. But is this really the case? A team from École nationale des ponts et chaussées (ENPC, Institut Polytechnique de Paris) and Riom-based company Sol Solutions (France) set out to investigate this question.
NEPOS: Measurement Methods Under Moon-Like Conditions
Does the Moon contain water ice and cave-like structures that could be used as valuable resources for future lunar missions? A research team from LMU Munich and the DLR Institute of Communication and Navigation is addressing these questions as part of the NEPOS (Near-Surface Seismic Exploration of Planetary Bodies with
LUNA Team receives ESA Team Excellence Award
The LUNA Team has been honored with the ESA Team Excellence Award, recognizing the outstanding collaboration and dedication that made Europe’s unique lunar analog facility a reality.
Weathering a storm in LUNA
After a few unusually hot days near the end of May, the first big thunderstorm of the summer hit Cologne and surroundings in the evening of May, 29th. The onset of high winds related to this storm stands out prominently in the seismic data from LUNA as a sudden increase
PHOENIX Spectrometers Demo Test at LUNA
In late February 2026, the LUNA Analog Facility became the setting for a valuable milestone in a lunar exploration technology: the demonstration test of the PHOENIX (Portable Handheld cOmbinEd RamaN-LIBS-XRF) spectrometer. Developed through a collaboration between the Instituto Nacional de Técnica Aeroespacial (INTA, ES), the University of Leicester (UK), the
The life support system photobioreactor in the LUNA test: breathing and eating thanks to tiny algae
If we want to send humans into space, we must provide and maintain breathable air. The system that performs this function in a spacecraft is called the Environmental Control and Life Support System (ECLSS). The Technical University of Munich (TUM) has developed and tested a photobioreactor system that will add