LightShip (spacecraft)

LightShip is a proposed class of uncrewed interplanetary spacecraft under development by the European Space Agency (ESA) that will serve as a space tug for transporting payloads to Mars and provide communication, navigation, and weather monitoring services from a high Mars orbit. It will use its onboard solar electric propulsion to transport other spacecraft to vicinity of Mars and after the payload separates, LightShip will move to a high orbit of nearly 6000 km above the surface to form part of the Mars Communication and Navigation Infrastructure (MARCONI). The first LightShip mission is planned for 2032.^[1][2][3]

LightShip

Operator	European Space Agency
Applications	Mars payload delivery and support
Specifications
Spacecraft type	Uncrewed space tug
Production
Status	Proposed
Built	None
Maiden launch	2032 (planned)

Name

It is named after a lightship—a ship that acts as a lighthouse.^[1]

See also

• List of European Space Agency programmes and missions