CosmoCube is a UK-led mission designed to probe the universe’s “Dark Ages” from the unique vantage of lunar orbit. After the Big Bang, before stars and galaxies had formed, the universe was dark and almost featureless—yet its faint hydrogen signal holds the key to understanding cosmic dawn, the growth of structure, and the nature of dark matter. Detecting this signal is impossible from Earth because of radio interference, but CosmoCube will overcome this by operating a precision-calibrated low-frequency radiometer from the far side of the Moon, naturally shielded from terrestrial noise.

The project was presented at the National Astronomy Meeting 2025 (NAM 2025) and featured in a press release by the Royal Astronomical Society, underlining its significance in advancing radio cosmology. Led by the University of Cambridge with partners including University of Portsmouth, STFC RAL Space, and Surrey Satellite Technology Ltd, CosmoCube is currently in prototyping and environmental testing, with a roadmap targeting lunar orbit deployment later this decade.

CosmoCube has been awarded £1.5 million as part of a £7.4 million funding package from the UK Space Agency in the “Space Science and Exploration Bilateral Programme”. This investment supports a suite of UK-led scientific and engineering projects that strengthen the UK’s role in global missions to the Moon, Mars, and Venus.

Under this award, the University of Cambridge, STFC RAL Space, and the University of Portsmouth, in partnership with NASA, will lead the development of the mission, space platform, payload, and science for CosmoCube — a CubeSat designed to carry a precision radiometer to probe spectral distortions in the Universe’s cosmic microwave background.

The funding comes alongside broader UK collaborations with international agencies including ISRO (India), JAXA (Japan), CSA (Canada), and NASA, in projects ranging from lunar spectroscopy and detecting subsurface ice, to mapping water-ice on Mars. CosmoCube stands among these as a mission that will advance the UK’s capability in astrophysics and cosmology at the frontier of space science.

This investment highlights the government’s commitment to enabling cutting-edge discovery and establishes CosmoCube as a flagship mission contributing to the exploration of the early Universe.

CosmoCube was among ten UK projects awarded early-stage funding through the UK Space Agency and STFC’s “Technology for Space Science” call. This initiative aims to boost innovation in space-based astronomy, cosmology, astrophysics, and solar system science.

Specifically, the University of Cambridge, together with RAL Space, received support for their proposal on the miniaturisation of high-precision radio receivers for cosmological observations of the Dark Ages from cost-effective space platforms in lunar orbit.

This award enabled the CosmoCube team to begin feasibility work and early design studies, paving the way to explore instrument concepts in purpose-built small platforms. It marked a key first step in laying the technical foundations for the mission.