Richard Swinden

European Space Agency | ESA · European Space Research and Technology Centre (ESTEC)

This publication introduces the proposed ESA MARs COmmunication and Navigation Infrastructure (MARCONI) which has been proposed to deliver communication and navigation services starting in the first half of the next decade. This infrastructure provides a GNSS-like (Global Navigation Satellite System) ranging capability by broadcasting the MAFS (Mar...

The development of dedicated Lunar Communication and Navigation System (LCNS) infrastructure, envisioned within the Moonlight initiative of the European Space Agency (ESA), will lay the foundations for autonomous lunar navigation of surface rovers, and orbiting and landing spacecrafts. The absence of lunar ionosphere makes the deployment of a refer...

In the last years, the Moon has been put again on the top of the space exploration interests. Both space ag en cies and private companies are being involved in mission programs that aim at establishing a stable p resen ce o n the Moon surface in this decade. In all these initiatives, navigation and communication play a major role. Within this conte...

With the renewed interest for lunar surface exploration, the European Space Agency envisions to stimulate the creation of lunar communications and navigation services (LCNS) to enable, among others, autonomous navigation capabilities for lunar rovers. As the number of satellites foreseen in such a service is much smaller compared to Earth based glo...

The interest in Moon exploration has grown substantially in the last few years, appointing the Moon as the first step toward deep space exploration. However, the current state-of-the-art approach for lunar landing does not always reach the required performance levels. This contribution presents a potential implementation of a dedicated lunar commun...

Unmanned aerial vehicles have become a crucial technology in a wide variety of fields. The availability and integrity of exact positioning feedback information are of paramount importance for the safety of many UAV applications. Global navigation satellite system receivers provide reliable and accurate positioning solutions in outdoor environments....

The Moon is again a top space exploration priority. Several upcoming missions involving worldwide space agencies, private companies and their partnerships are planned paving the way for a stable access to the Moon. In all the proposed initiatives, communications and navigation will play a key role to enable a stable presence in the lunar volume. Wi...

The interest in Moon exploration has substantially grown in the latest years, positioning the Moon as an attractive testbed to develop the required technologies and capabilities for human Deep Space exploration. In past decades, lunar missions have almost entirely relied on Direct-to-Earth (DTE) communications, whilst using ranging radiometric meas...

The internal roadmap for deep space exploration proposed by the International Space Exploration Coordination Group (ISECG) clearly identifies the Moon as the first step towards a larger solar system exploration. In this context, the use of Earth Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) signals at Moon altitude has been extensively studied in the p...

A new lunar economy of moon exploration by space agencies, private companies and public-private partnerships has emerged, with initiatives involving robots, habitat and transportation. All the proposed missions share similar navigation and communication needs that could be potentially and efficiently satisfied through a dedicated lunar system. In...

Today, deep space missions are navigated and tracked with Deep Space Tracking Stations. However, the navigation operations are relatively expensive and the accuracy is within kilometre range, which needs to be improved for human space exploration. This paper will present initial results of a system study about a Lunar Navigation Satellite System. T...

As a significant number of people and robotics venture into space, infrastructures providing critical services such as GNSS must be considered on a large extra-terrestrial scale to support these explorations and settlements. The next global strategic priority in space, the moon, has dozens of missions planned for this decade, with private as well...