Going to the moon was the first step. Staying there is the next ambition.

ESA is a key partner in NASA's Artemis program, which aims to return people to the moon by the end of the decade. Dozens of other international public and private missions are setting their sights on the lunar surface in the coming years.

But to achieve a permanent and sustainable presence on the moon, reliable and autonomous lunar communications and navigation services are required.

This is why ESA is working with its industrial partners on the Moonlight initiative, to become the first off-planet commercial telecoms and satellite navigation provider.

Following their launch, three or four satellites will be carried into lunar orbit by a space tug and deployed one by one, to form a constellation of lunar satellites. The number and specification of these satellites are currently being defined.

The constellation's orbits are optimized to give coverage to the lunar south pole, whose sustained sunlight and polar ice make it the focus of upcoming missions.

A satellite intended to improve weather forecasting and an experimental inflatable heat shield to protect spacecraft entering atmospheres were launched into space from California on Thursday.

A United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket carrying the Joint Polar Satellite System-2 satellite and the NASA test payload lifted off at 1:49 a.m. from Vandenberg Space Force Base, northwest of Los Angeles.

Developed for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, JPSS-2 was placed into an orbit that circles the Earth from pole to pole, joining previously launched satellites in a system designed to improve weather forecasting and climate monitoring.

The NASA mission blog said there was no immediate data confirming deployment of the solar array that will power the satellite. "There may not be an issue, but we're monitoring closely as more telemetry data becomes available," the post said.

The array has five panels that were collapsed in an accordion fold for launch. The fully deployed array would extend 30 feet (9.1 meters).

Mission officials say the satellite represents the latest technology and will increase precision of observations of the atmosphere, oceans and land.

After releasing the satellite, the rocket's upper stage reignited to position the test payload for re-entry into Earth's atmosphere and descent into the Pacific Ocean.