Lunar Sentinel

Advanced Space and partner AstronetX envision a future constellation of spacecraft at the Moon in low lunar orbits (LLO) and/or an array of telescopes at Commercial Lunar Payload Services (CLPS) landing sites that provide close-approach risk assessment of spacecraft at the Moon. This vision is called Lunar Sentinel. In our strategic mission concept, our team aims to optimize the use of space-based sensors to provide metric observations of non-transmitting spacecraft and cooperative assets orbiting the Moon. The primary goal of this proposed effort is to provide space situational awareness (SSA) for the growing cislunar market and to prevent collision events at the Moon. The collaboration proposed here is our plan to de-risk vital technical elements of the Lunar Sentinel mission concept for NASA. Advanced Space is the prime contractor for the Oracle-P mission for AFRL/RV, which is the first step toward SSA stationed at the Earth-Moon Lagrange Point 1 (EML1). Additionally, Advanced Space owns and operates the Cislunar Autonomous Positioning System Technology Operations and Navigation Experiment (CAPSTONE™) mission with NASA STMD funding, which has provided strategic lessons learned in cislunar operations, navigation, and communications. AstronetX currently has a Phase III contract with AFRL/RV to mature their Lunar-Cam (L-CAM) space-based sensor to be hosted on commercial orbiters and lunar landers to provide unique size, weight, power, and cost (SWaP-C) efficient optical tracking data services. This team and the collective vision for the proposed effort are designed to prove out key capabilities necessary to make the Lunar Sentinel mission architecture an effective reality: specifically, the framework for an accurate SSA system capable of detecting, tracking, and maintaining custody of multiple non-transmitting spacecraft through high-resolution, rapid imagery enabled by precision position, navigation, and timing (PNT) capabilities. Advanced Space and partner AstronetX envision a future constellation of spacecraft at the Moon in low lunar orbits (LLO) and/or an array of telescopes at Commercial Lunar Payload Services (CLPS) landing sites that provide close-approach risk assessment of spacecraft at the Moon. When observing non-transmitting spacecraft, the observer needs a direct line of sight to the target and the target cannot be occluded by the Moon. This team is advancing multiple enabling technologies to deliver advancements on space-based sensors, navigation, and modeling to integrate an end-to-end system for LLO SSA. The team will simulate the PNT accuracies required to achieve sustainable OD and effectively model the evolution of non-transmitting spacecraft in LLO. The team will study using a combination of ground-based and onboard navigation filters, which handle state propagation, measurement ingestion and OD, integrated with AstronetX’s L-CAM sensor. L-CAM has high sensitivity and resolution imagery, rapid imaging capabilities, gimbal-able aperture, and low SWaP-C to enable high revisit rates.
Benefits: Successful completion of the Phase I project will demonstrate the technical feasibility and requirements for an end-to-end mission performing SSA for conjunction assessment at the Moon. The key result of the Phase I project will demonstrate the requirements needed for these technological advancements, characterize the lunar orbital environment, the benefits of L-CAM in the architecture, and establish the PNT sensitivity baseline. In Phase II, the team will refine the end-to-end system to mature the mission architecture, customize L-CAM hardware, establish the cataloging approach, and refine the overall PNT system that enables precise metric observations of spacecraft in LLOs. This effort will give NASA the ability to buy a mission rapidly via mission formulation for cislunar SSA through Phase III follow-on funding. Applications with NASA include the following: Augmenting JPL’s MADCAP conjunction assessment processes for deep-space applications. Supplement LunaNet and Near Space Network (NSN) constellations to support the SSA needs at the Moon. Integration with commercial CLPS landers to support sensing needs on the Moon’s surface. Applications for the commercial and national security markets include the following: AFRL/RV has a directive to improve SSA operational needs. Lunar Sentinel can augment the Oracle-P mission requirements and multiply the investments made by their group on L-CAM’s development. Interface with the Office of Space Commerce in setting up regulations for cooperative and non-cooperative conjunction assessment in cislunar space. SSA data validation for the Joint Task Force-Space Defense Commercial Operations cell (JCO). Support cislunar tracking operations for the 19th Space Defense Squadron.