Barcelona Moon Team held its summit last week in Madrid for three days. It was the first time that our Chinese partners joined personally the Spanish teams to the technical meetings.

The meetings held on Tuesday were dedicated to the launch coordination between the teams, including subjects such as the ground stations that will follow the launcher during its first Earth revolution when the solid upper stage will be fired to insert the lander module into LTO, the separation of the lander from the upper stage and coordination for eventual corrections and the lander insertion into low lunar orbit.

The second part of the meetings was dedicated to the propulsion system, provided by the Chinese Institutes, including the engine, thrusters and tanks. This is one of the key technologies in which Spain does not have capabilities and most likely to fall into the ITAR regulations when using non-Chinese technology. Fortunately the Chinese propulsion systems are mature and have been already used in space.

The Chinese delegation included representatives from China Academy of Launch Vehicle Technology (CALT), and Academy of Aerospace Liquid Propulsion Technology (AALPT), an entity attached to China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation (CASC), along with directors of China Great Wall Industry Corporation with whom BMT is been building a strong relationship for more than two years.

On the Spanish side, it was also attended GMV, as technical leader and responsible for the mission analysis and GNC; EADS CASA Espacio, lander platform leader; National Institute for Aerospace Technology, responsible of many subsystems based on their experience in minisats; Galactic Suite Surface Operations, leading the rover along with the Technical University in Catalonia and INTA; and Stardust Consulting, a Barcelona based space law advisory firm.