MoonLITE would deploy four one metre-long penetrators into the lunar surface in order to emplace a global network of seismometers, heat flow sensors and - possibly - volatile detectors.
Such a comms network would be needed for future robotic and lunar explorers, especially for a human outpost located near the South Pole where line of sight communications would be limited.
Although extensive work has been carried out on the technique in the US and Japan, the only attempt to use penetrators - the Deep Space 2 vehicles aboard NASA's Mars Polar Lander - was unsuccessful.
Penetrators could be used at Mars, to deploy a seismic network; at Europa in order to measure the thickness of the ice sheet; and at Enceladus to investigate the fissures discovered by Cassini.
[7][8] As of September 2018[update], no progress on the project had been announced, and the "MoonLITE" keyword did not appear in a search of the UK Space Agency's official web site.