>”The existence of a common time reference is the basis of our everyday life activities on Earth, and the same will be true on the Moon with the development of a lunar economy and the expansion of lunar exploration,” Javier Ventura-Traveset, Moonlight Project navigation manager at the European Space Agency (ESA), told *Newsweek*.
>”In a very short term, for example, we may need to define a common lunar reference time to ensure that different space agencies’ planned lunar-based communication and navigation infrastructures remain interoperable; to establish growing lunar telecommunication networks; to precisely time-stamp some scientific experiments; to synchronize astronomical observations from lunar-based telescopes; or to coordinate time-sensitive operations such as spacecraft docking.”
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>Led by [NASA](https://www.newsweek.com/topic/nasa)’s Space Communication and Navigation (SCaN) program, the initiative could eventually extend to other celestial bodies across the solar system. As humanity prepares to return to [the Moon](https://www.newsweek.com/spectacular-supermoon-partial-lunar-eclipse-pictures-1955858), LTC will be essential in developing a sustainable lunar ecosystem and ensuring the safety of future missions.
>”The existence of a common time reference is the basis of our everyday life activities on Earth, and the same will be true on the Moon with the development of a lunar economy and the expansion of lunar exploration,” Javier Ventura-Traveset, Moonlight Project navigation manager at the European Space Agency (ESA), told *Newsweek*.
>”In a very short term, for example, we may need to define a common lunar reference time to ensure that different space agencies’ planned lunar-based communication and navigation infrastructures remain interoperable; to establish growing lunar telecommunication networks; to precisely time-stamp some scientific experiments; to synchronize astronomical observations from lunar-based telescopes; or to coordinate time-sensitive operations such as spacecraft docking.”