LunaNet: a Flexible and Extensible Lunar Exploration Communications and Navigation Infrastructure

Israël, David; Mauldin, Kendall; Roberts, Christopher J.; Mitchell, Jason W.; Pulkkinen, A.; Cooper, LA; Johnson, Michael; Christe, Steven; Gramling, Cheryl

doi:10.1109/aero47225.2020.9172509

Cited by 58 publications

(31 citation statements)

References 7 publications

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“…Most relevant missions addressed by the IOAG report are led by NASA. In particular, NASA is developing an extensible and scalable lunar communications and navigation architecture, known as LunaNet [9]. The approach is to move away from the traditional link-centric view to a network-centric concept of operations, where self-contained data units are transported through the system.…”

Section: Lunar Communicationsmentioning

confidence: 99%

A parametric data handling evaluation framework for autonomous lunar networks

2021

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Different and exciting exploration opportunities toward the Moon are opening in this decade. In particular, the major space agencies are putting a considerable effort in designing and studying a broad spectrum of missions that will bring back the humans on the Moon. During the evaluation of Lunar mission concepts, having a tool that can quickly assess the best communication and data-handling architecture given a set of satellites and a site of interest is mandatory. In this work, a novel parametric framework is presented and applied to the study of the expected connectivity of Lunar networks. The framework comprises bent-pipe, store-and-forward and store-carry-and-forward networking approaches, covering most common data management options. The methodology is designed to determine the best communication architecture given an arbitrary set of available satellites, ground stations, point of interest, and data volume. The proposed algorithm has been applied in a motivating case study of a networked mission devoted to observing lava tubes sites on the Moon surface. Results validate the approach which can identify the inflection points where different data handling techniques outperform each other.

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Section: Lunar Communicationsmentioning

confidence: 99%

A parametric data handling evaluation framework for autonomous lunar networks

2021

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Recently, the NASA Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC) and the European Space Agency (ESA) have conceptualized GPS-like satellite constellations around the Moon, named LunaNet [3] and Moonlight [4], respectively. Furthermore, there has been an emerging interest in the use of a SmallSat platform for these PNT constellations to allow for cost-effectiveness and rapid deployment [3]. These lunar PNT constellations by NASA and the ESA will assist in the overarching effort of establishing a sustainable human presence on the Moon, by providing global PNT and communication services to lunar users.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

A Case Study Analysis for Designing a Lunar Navigation Satellite System with Time-Transfer from Earth-GPS

Bhamidipati¹,

Mina²,

Gao³

2022

Preprint

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“…In the long-term vision of deep space exploration-particularly in mankind's journey to Mars-a permanent facility on the Moon can be the launching pad and gateway for deep space communication and commercial activities. A key challenge of Artemis' success will be a reliable and sustainable End-to-End (E2E) communication network [2]. Various technologies have been proposed for E2E communication links between ground stations, lunar orbiters (Gateways), and lunar rovers [2] Fig.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…A key challenge of Artemis' success will be a reliable and sustainable End-to-End (E2E) communication network [2]. Various technologies have been proposed for E2E communication links between ground stations, lunar orbiters (Gateways), and lunar rovers [2] Fig. 1: Schematic diagram of a hybrid lunar communication network.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Towards a Hybrid RF/Optical Lunar Communication System (LunarComm)

Raza¹,

Abele²,

O’Hara³

et al. 2022

Preprint

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The prospect of mankind returning to the Moon has garnered a great amount of attention in recent years. Dozens of lunar missions are planned for the coming decade which will require the development of a sustainable communication infrastructure with high data rates and minimal latency. Space communication systems thus far have relied on Radio Frequency (RF) links alone, but recent developments in laser communications have demonstrated that Free Space Optical (FSO) links can achieve much higher data rates. Upon considering the respective benefits and drawbacks of RF and FSO links, we make a case for the integration of these two technologies into a hybrid RF/FSO lunar communications architecture which leverages small satellites in a Low Earth Orbit (LEO) constellation. We include a case study for this technology designed in Analytical Graphics' Systems Tool Kit (STK) software. Results are presented in terms of chain access duration, propagation delay, transmission loss, Signal-to-Noise Ratio (SNR), and Bit Error Rate (BER). This architecture shows potential to revolutionize extraterrestrial communications and pave the way for highly ambitious future missions in space.

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LunaNet: a Flexible and Extensible Lunar Exploration Communications and Navigation Infrastructure

Cited by 58 publications

References 7 publications

A parametric data handling evaluation framework for autonomous lunar networks

A parametric data handling evaluation framework for autonomous lunar networks

A Case Study Analysis for Designing a Lunar Navigation Satellite System with Time-Transfer from Earth-GPS

Towards a Hybrid RF/Optical Lunar Communication System (LunarComm)

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