LuNaDrone: extreme
mobility for the Moon

By Evolunar

The Evolunar Project

Our journey as an interplanetary species begins with the Moon. By 2040, the lunar surface will be home to over a thousand pioneers. LuNaDrone’s extreme mobility capabilities will be crucial to support robotic and human surface operations.

POST-LANDING
MOBILITY SERVICES

Since 2020, Evolunar’s team has been working on LuNaDrone, a small spacecraft capable of flying autonomously over the lunar surface. The extreme mobility capabilities of this vehicle allow us to offer a whole range of post-landing services, from exploring sites of interest to last-mile delivery of customer payloads.

Evolunar can transport payloads from the initial landing site to more valuable locations, perform scouting flights to identify resources to be mined, and collect critical data for efficient mission planning, by identifying potential hazards and locating the most promising sites that maximize the commercial and scientific returns for the customer.

KEY FEATURES

LuNaDrone (Lunar Nano Drone) is a small hopper that can perfom customized flight profiles specifically designed to satisfy customer’s requirements. Thanks to its rocket propulsion and autonomous navigation systems, it can fly even in the most challenging lunar environments, such as craters, lunar pits and Permanently Shadowed Regions.

This innovative vehicle can collect data at a higher resolution than orbiters and fly over rough terrain that would otherwise be inaccessible to rovers. Its compact size reduces transportation costs and allows frequent access to the Moon thanks to its compatibility with even the smallest commercial landers.

LuNaDrone's proprietary visual-inertial architecture

Autonomous Navigation

Evolunar’s proprietary visual-inertial architecture is engineered to operate reliably and robustly in the extreme conditions of the lunar environment.

Last-mile delivery

LuNaDrone can transport internally or externally mounted payloads and provide them with power and communication links according to customer's requirements

LuNaDrone's three monopropellant rocket engines

Unlimited Scouting Capabilities

Three monopropellant rocket engines enable LuNaDrone to reach any location in a matter of minutes

HOW EVOLUNAR
CAN HELP
HUMANS LIVE ON
THE MOON

The Moon environment is much harsher than the one we can find in low earth orbit. In theory, we could build huge and very thick domes to protect our astronauts, but it would require a lot of work and resources.

This is why in recent years we have seen a growing interest in the exploration of lunar lava tubes, as these underground caves would provide shelter from energetic particles, cosmic radiation, micrometeoroids, and extreme temperatures.

A potential access to these caves may be provided by Skylights, which are vertical pits between the lunar surface and the underground voids. Since 2009, nearly 300 lunar pits have been identified, some of which present overhangs that suggest the presence of a cave opening beneath them.

However, it is impossible, just from orbital images, to assess if they actually give access to a cave or not. Instead, we can use LuNaDrone to explore these sites.

HOW WE FLY
ON THE MOON

In this kind of mission, LuNaDrone detaches from the host lander and uses its own propulsion system to fly autonomously towards the target. Once above the pit, the drone starts a slow descent into it, allowing the collection of images of the bedrock lava layers exposed in the pit walls. These data will be extremely valuable to understand the lunar subsurface structure.

LuNaDrone hovers above the pit floor for a sufficient time to scan the interior surroundings and assess the presence and the accessibility conditions of an opening to a lava tube. Finally, it egresses from the skylight, moves away from the pit, and lands in line of sight with the lander, to transmit the data acquired during the flight.

LuNaDrone pit exploration, from the initial
take-off to the final landing site of the expedition

Insights

Use cases

• Identify resources to be mined
• Detect potential hazards and collect critical data for efficient mission planning
• Cooperate with other vehicles, assist with path planning and the identification of sites of interest, to better exploit the limited mission time
• Scout lunar pits to assess the presence and the accessibility conditions of a lava tube entrance
• Transport payloads from the landing site to more valuable locations
• Support future human bases with swarms of drones that can be refilled in recharging stations

Propulsion System

This system forms the heart of the spacecraft, playing a critical role in both its mass and overall performance.

At Evolunar, we are developing an advanced Propellant Feeding System that easily integrates with other on-board systems while offering flexible modularity. Our scalable design allows for adjustable propellant volumes and engine classes, enabling longer missions and larger payload capacities.

We are also addressing several unique challenges specific to this innovative type of vehicle, including sloshing, rapid emptying times, and control dynamics.

Navigation System

By jointly developing hardware and software, we are able to provide an optimized, compact and efficient solution, capable of operating in real-time with high accuracy and at the same time minimizing the mass and power required for operation.

The system splits the tasks among different processing units to leverage the benefits of each one and exploits an easily extendable base set of sensors comprising of IMU, Camera, and Rangefinder. It employs a complex proprietary multicamera architecture, coupled with a strong step of outlier rejection to increase global robustness.

This approach results in higher accuracy and allows navigation in a potentially unlimited range of vehicle attitudes, but also increases resiliency and redundancy: in case of damages to one of the sensors, the algorithm is able to rely on the remaining ones to maintain operativity.

Il progetto LuNaDrone Sviluppato da EVOLUNAR SRL è realizzato grazie al co-finanziamento Programma Regionale F.E.S.R. 2021/2027 Sostegno alla prima crescita delle start up innovative. AZIONE I.1i.2 "Supporto alle start up innovative e a spin off della ricerca"

Il progetto ha avuto come finalità l'innalzamento del livello di maturità tecnologica dei sottosistemi critici del LuNaDrone. Le attività hanno portato alla validazione del funzionamento del sistema di gestione del propellente e del sistema di navigazione autonoma, oltre che al deposito di domande di brevetto relative a quest'ultimo.

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LuNaDrone: extreme mobility for the Moon