A Long-Duration Propulsive Lunar Landing Testbed

Abstract — Affordable test articles for descent and landing are crucial for developing commercial lunar landing capability. To ensure successful lunar landing, flight software must be tested over mission-length durations on hardware exhibiting dynamics analogous to those of true flight articles. Energetic and structural constraints typically preclude affordable longduration lander tests. This paper details a first-in-kind propulsive lunar lander testbed designed for long-duration testing. The hardware and software on this platform exhibit dynamics that closely approximate those of real lunar landers and are exhibited to operate stably and indefinitely. The platform requires minimal infrastructure and is low cost to operate. Platform configuration is outlined and state estimation for indefinite duration testing is detailed. I