Crescent Space Services LLC has announced the firm’s entry into the lunar infrastructure sector — Crescent Space is a new commercial company launched by Lockheed Martin (NYSE: LMT) that provides infrastructure-as-a-service for lunar missions.
As humankind expands its presence beyond LEO, one of the first key challenges is uninterrupted communications between Earth, the Moon and the growing number of lunar missions. To do this seamlessly – especially on the far side of the Moon – customers need a network that helps them talk over vast distances, like what cell towers enable here on Earth.
With its agile, services-based business model, Crescent directly responds to this need, offering an initial service called Parsec®: a cislunar communications and navigation network. Parsec uses a constellation of small lunar satellites that will collectively work to provide continuous connection between Earth and the people and assets in lunar orbit, as well as on the surface of the Moon. In addition to communications, Parsec will also provide critical position, timing and navigation services for lunar missions.
Crescent will own and operate the Parsec network upon launch of its first nodes in 2025. Lockheed Martin will produce and deliver the Parsec spacecraft to Crescent, drawing upon its deep expertise developing exploration missions, communications satellites, software and GPS satellites.
Crescent is led by CEO Joe Landon, who previously served as vice president of Advanced Programs Development for Lockheed Martin Space. In this role, Landon was responsible for Lockheed Martin’s space exploration strategy. As part of this, he led growth, strategy and research and development for the company’s Commercial Civil Space line of business. He was also instrumental in developing the concept for Crescent and launching the company. Before his time at Lockheed Martin, Landon was an early entrepreneur and investor in the commercial space sector.
As a subsidiary of Lockheed Martin, Crescent aims to leverage reliable technical heritage from the company and combine that with the speed and agility of a commercial services platform to deliver an array of essential services for lunar operations.
With momentum gaining around humanity’s return to the Moon, this is an immediate area of opportunity for Crescent. In the future, Crescent plans to offer additional services to further enable science, exploration and commerce at the Moon and in deep space.
For Crescent, Landon has brought together a world-class team whose previous expertise supporting civil, commercial and military space missions makes them a perfect fit to lead the charge in providing services for the lunar economy.
Crescent is well positioned to serve the upcoming wave of lunar science and exploration missions, including NASA’s crewed Artemis moon landings. With Lockheed Martin’s investment and access to its technical capabilities and deep space experience, Crescent is set up to ensure Parsec will be ready to provide reliable and affordable communications services for our customers.”
Crescent CEO Joe Landon
Crescent is a commercial services company created by Lockheed Martin that provides infrastructure-as-a-service for lunar missions operated by both commercial and government customers. The company leverages Lockheed Martin’s deep technical heritage and reliability in space with the speed and agility of a commercial services platform to deliver critical services needed to operate on and around the moon
