Enabling High Performance PNT in the Lunar Environment (LUPIN)

With the renewed interest in lunar exploration and numerous missions planned for this decade, ranging from rovers to crewed landings, accurate and continuous Position, Velocity, and Time (PVT) estimates on the Moon are becoming a hot research topic. PVT is a fundamental enabling technology for all lunar scientific and commercial activities. Currently, state-of-the-art navigation for lunar surface operations relies primarily on inertial and visual sensors. However, absolute positioning is achieved through resource-intensive techniques such as map and terrain matching, which require occasional recalibration. At present, there are significant research and development efforts focused on designing and deploying a dedicated lunar infrastructure to provide enhanced Position, Navigation, and Timing (PNT) services. In particular, the European Space Agency (ESA), through its Moonlight program, is developing a Lunar Communication and Navigation System (LCNS). This system offers navigation services via one-way ranging signals, similar to the functionality of Earth-based Global Navigation Satellite Systems (GNSS). As part of the ESA LUPIN project, this work aims to define a novel approach for planetary rover navigation using LCNS. In this approach, the performance requirements for the typical onboard relative localization functions could be relaxed, leveraging the availability and fusion of LCNS signal data. The LCNS signal will help maintain and constrain the drift inherent in dead-reckoning solutions, improving navigation accuracy and reliability for lunar operations.