In an era where lunar exploration is booming, space agencies around the globe are gearing up for exciting missions to the Moon over the next decade. With NASA’s Lunar Gateway, the Chinese-Roscosmos International Lunar Research Station (ILRS), and the European Space Agency’s Moon Village in the pipeline, the Moon is set to become a thriving hub for scientific discovery and collaboration.

Among the ambitious plans, a revolutionary proposal has emerged: the Dark Ages Explorer (DEX)—an ultra-long wavelength radio telescope designed to investigate the enigmatic periods of the universe known as the Cosmic Dark Ages and the Cosmic Dawn. This groundbreaking idea comes from a diverse team of European astronomers, led by Christiaan Brinkerink from Radboud University, and aims to shed light on one of cosmology’s greatest mysteries.

Understanding the Cosmic Dawn