Africa’s BALLS: a lunar radio telescope test under China’s Chang’e-8 slated for 2029

Africa and partners will deploy the Bounced African Low Lunar Sphere (BALLS), three spherical low‑frequency radio probes, as a technology demonstrator on China’s Chang’e‑8 mission to the Moon’s south pole by 2029. The experiment aims to form a radio telescope array capable of observing very low-frequency signals (below ~20–50 MHz) from the early universe, serving as pathfinder hardware for the broader Africa2Moon network of 55 antennas on the lunar farside. Led by the Foundation for Space Development Africa with SARAO and collaborators across Africa, BALLS will relay data to a lunar lander and then back to Earth, with prototypes tested in 2026 and the broader mission contingent on continued collaboration with China.