Performance Analysis of Lunar Radio Navigation ODTS System

Abstract

In the last years, lunar missions have been attracting a renewed interest in the clear perspective of planning and completing both robotic and human missions in the near future, paving the way to the exploration of Mars. In this view, communication and navigation are considered essential to ensure a stable presence on the lunar surface. In this context, Thales Alenia Space is leading a consortium to define the main concepts for a Lunar Radio Navigation System (LRNS) in terms of Orbit Determination and Time Synchronization (ODTS), Lunar Reference Frames and Signal Modulation techniques as part of an ESA Technology Development Element (TDE) programme. This work presents the ODTS architecture and achievable performances with different noise levels, error sources and data arcs. In particular, the main goal of this work is to show the performance assessment of the identified ODTS system concept baseline in terms of achievable SISE (Signal in Space Error). Then, the impact of the Lunar Body-Fixed Reference Frames’ accuracy is also investigated.