Lunar Codex and ILOA will send cultural archives to the Moon

The Lunar Codex and the International Lunar Observatory Association are partnering to launch two new cultural archives to the Moon in 2026 and 2028. The missions expand a global lunar collection that already spans 264 countries and territories, 156 Indigenous nations and more than 250,000 artifacts.

Why it matters: - The Lunar Codex is extending a global cultural archive beyond Earth, adding new lunar payloads that preserve poetry, song lyrics, essays and other works. - The partnership with the International Lunar Observatory Association broadens the cultural footprint of future Moon missions and ties art, heritage and exploration together. - The archives will represent creators from 264 countries and territories and 156 Indigenous nations.

What happened: - The Lunar Codex and the International Lunar Observatory Association announced a partnership to send the Lunar Codex 'Hinauri' and 'Hinatea' archives to the Moon. - The announcement was dated July 2, 2026, in Toronto. - 'Hinauri' is scheduled to launch in late 2026. - 'Hinatea' is scheduled to launch in 2028. - The Lunar Codex website is the Lunar Codex. - The International Lunar Observatory Association website is ILOA.

The details: - The Lunar Codex says its archive includes work from more than 50,000 creative artists. - The project says it has assembled more than 250,000 cultural artifacts across 11 missions. - The archive spans all nations of the world, all 50 U.S. states, all 13 Canadian provinces and territories, and all states of the European Union. - The project says it has already completed six previous launches, two lunar orbits and three successful lunar landings. - Those prior landings carried the Nova, Serenity and Minerva archives. - 'Hinauri' will archive poetry and song lyrics. - 'Hinauri' is part of a data payload secured by ILOA in collaboration with Space Calendar. - The payload will fly aboard Astrolab’s FLEX Lunar Innovation Platform rover on Astrobotic’s Griffin lander. - 'Hinatea' will archive essays, poetry, song lyrics, chess games and more. - 'Hinatea' will fly as part of ILOA’s flagship ILO-1 mission on Astrolab’s Flexible Logistics and Exploration rover. - Canadensys Aerospace Corp. built and designed ILO-1. - ILO-1 is designed to capture and transmit high-definition images of the galactic center, the celestial sky and Earth. - Elisa Perednia, president and chair of ILOA, said the partnership supports ILOA’s vision to establish an observatory on the Moon and to expand humanity’s cultural presence beyond Earth. - Dr. Samuel Peralta, founder of the Lunar Codex, said the new collections are named to honor ILOA’s founding in Hawai‘i and use the word “Hina,” linked to the Hawaiian deity of the Moon and ocean. - Peralta said the collections preserve more of contemporary culture for future generations. - ILOA’s dual-camera payload ILO-X was on the first commercial landing on the Moon in 2024. - ILO-X’s payloads were named “Lunar Codex” and “Ka ‘Imi” in honor of the cultural heritage project. - The naming honored initiatives led by Perednia and ILOA’s late founding director, Steve Durst. - 'Hinauri' spotlights Indigenous poetry and builds on earlier Lunar Codex collections of Indigenous arts and music. - 'Hinauri' also includes work from a Lunar Codex open call for poetry. - The archive includes unique translations of selected lyrics from contemporary Asian popular music. - The artists named in the release include BTS, Blackpink, Stray Kids, Twice, Seventeen, XG, World Order, No Na and GAC. - The release says the selections explore humanity’s connection with Earth, the Moon and the universe.

Between the lines: - The Lunar Codex is positioning lunar missions as cultural preservation projects, not just scientific or commercial payloads. - The repeated use of Indigenous work and multilingual pop-culture translations suggests an effort to make the archive feel globally representative and intergenerational. - The ILOA partnership also reinforces a long-running connection between lunar imaging, observatory plans and cultural symbolism.

What's next: - 'Hinauri' is expected to fly in late 2026 aboard Griffin. - 'Hinatea' is expected to launch in 2028 on ILO-1. - ILOA and the Lunar Codex say the missions will continue expanding humanity’s cultural presence on the Moon.

The bottom line: - The Lunar Codex is turning future lunar missions into time capsules for global culture, with two more archives set for the Moon over the next two years.