Satellite relays stretching from geosynchronous orbit to near the moon’s orbit will also be essential to NASA’s nearer-term ambitions to land humans on the moon’s south pole before the end of the decade. According to the agency, that region of the moon provides few landing opportunities that are in direct communication with Earth’s ground stations. But even beyond crewed missions, a lunar relay could also enable new capabilities for uncrewed missions, like remote or autonomous operation of rovers, plus navigation services and boosted data transmission rates for payloads on the moon’s surface.