Artemis’s Compass: Navigation Architecture and Challenges in Support of Initial Lunar Missions

Through the Artemis missions, NASA is supporting a broad set of capabilities to enable a robust sustainable human lunar exploration economy. To meet the mission objectives, jumps in performances are needed across multiple technical disciplines to enable areas such as precision landing, heavy lift, large cargo lunar landing, complex remote infrastructure deployment and operation, and small-scale nuclear power in space to name a few. While several of the fundamental technologies needed have been tested and demonstrated in either technology or science missions of opportunity, the Artemis campaign will bring together multiple elements into a complex multi-partner dance where all pieces must work well together to complete the mission.