The Lunar Antenna for Radio Astronomy, or LARA, is a project for a radio astronomy observatory, to be integrated as a payload on a satellite orbiting the Moon or, ideally, the Lagrangian point L2. It is designed to be both a scientific instrument and a technology demonstrator. LARA will make it possible to test and develop the use of different technologies applied to scientific research, in particular to radio astronomy from space, a field that is still in its infancy and with few space missions underway.

From a technological point of view, LARA’s endeavor will represent a first exploration of microsatellite technologies scaled up to more ambitious contexts, while maintaining the characteristics that make these technologies attractive: ease of deployment, operational robustness, low cost, moderate energy consumption and low weight.

The scientific products generated by the LARA project will be useful to the scientific community and will also serve as an incentive for the development of new missions that can expand the scope and quality of the aforementioned products. From a strategic point of view, the project will position the Argentine scientific and technological system among those with the capacity to operate beyond the Earth’s orbit, taking advantage of the opportunities offered by the new lunar missions. LARA is a relatively low-cost project with a high technological and scientific return, which requires a strategic association with a partner that will provide the platform on which the instrument will be housed.