Advanced Navigation, a developer of high-precision inertial navigation systems (INS) for commercial and defense applications, has successfully completed the critical terrestrial validation of its LUNA (Laser Unit for Navigation Aid) sensor, marking a key step toward autonomous lunar exploration.
The company tested the LUNA sensor in a series of extreme, Moon-like trials on Earth. Advanced Navigation’s sensor demonstrated its core capabilities and exceeded the demanding performance requirements set by Intuitive Machines, its commercial lunar delivery partner, for the upcoming IM-4 mission carrying NASA payloads.
LUNA Sensor Capabilities
LUNA delivers ‘laser light vision’ to overcome the challenges of lunar landings. By using laser beams, it provides a live feed of the lander’s precise 3D velocity and altitude relative to the Moon’s surface. This data acts as real-time correction, transforming a high-stakes, ‘partially blind’ descent into a controlled, accurate landing, a key step toward autonomous exploration.
Advanced Navigation’s sensor breaks conventional trade-offs, delivering high performance in a compact, efficient package. LUNA weighs only 2.8 kg and is roughly eight times smaller in volume than comparable systems.
The system is developed for seamless integration with the Nova-C lander. By replacing multiple legacy sensors, LUNA significantly reduces a mission’s mass, complexity, and cost, saving several million dollars on a typical lunar landing.
These functionalities are key, since landing on the Moon is a formidable challenge, with unpredictable lighting, crater-filled terrain, and no atmosphere or GPS. To overcome these obstacles, spacecraft must possess exceptional situational awareness and rely on advanced navigation technologies, such as the LUNA sensor.
Chris Shaw, CEO and Co-founder of Advanced Navigation, stated, “For decades, landing on the Moon has meant flying with only partial vision in the final kilometres. With no GPS to guide them, landers depend on a combination of sensors that can introduce drift or deliver incomplete data – turning every descent into a high-stakes calculation where a single error could mean mission failure.
“Our LUNA sensor aims to give lunar landers and rovers hyper-accurate ‘laser vision’ to see their own speed and position in the darkness of space, potentially making crashes a thing of the past and paving the way for safe, autonomous exploration. The technology delivers the predictability, reliability, and precision missions need.“
Dr. Tim Crain, Chief Technology Officer at Intuitive Machines, added, “Advanced Navigation’s lightweight, high-performance sensor aligns with our strategy to reduce mass while increasing capability – and it complements our precision landing technology by adding critical velocity and altitude data during descent. This TRL9 maturity of these technologies represents a significant advance for the Australian space industry at large.“
Lunar Testing & Results
A LUNA sensor was flown on a light aircraft over the sandy terrain of Western Australia’s Pinnacles Desert, which served as an analogue for lunar regolith. This simulated the high-speed dynamics of the Moon’s final 5 km descent. In these GPS-denied flights, the system achieved an error of just 28 m over 100 km of flight.
Tests were also conducted in Europe’s deepest mine in Finland, simulating surface rover navigation. The harsh, dark, dusty, and GPS-denied environment replicated the conditions a rover would face in shadowed lunar craters.
Over a 6 km stretch, 400 m below ground, LUNA achieved a best-case 3D position error of only 0.55 m (0.009%) and an average error of 2.83 m (0.047%). For comparison, standard GPS typically delivers 2–10 m of accuracy in open-sky conditions, confirming LUNA outperformed this even in a complex underground environment.
The results show Advanced Navigation’s technology can achieve exceptional precision in environments without external signals or prior knowledge, an essential capability for lunar missions, where every centimeter matters.
Final Spaceflight Qualifications for LUNA
Having exceeded Intuitive Machines’ technical requirements, these achievements enable LUNA to enter the final stage of space qualification ahead of its integration onto the IM-4 mission spacecraft.
This lunar milestone builds on the extensive design and testing already completed for LUNA’s core components. For example, the AAO LUNA Optical Head Assembly (ALOHA), the system’s critical set of optical telescopes developed by Australian Astronomical Optics (AAO), has achieved full space qualification.
Lee Spitler, Head of Space Projects at Australian Astronomical Optics, commented, “We’ve battle-hardened our ALOHA system to survive the intense journey to the Moon. Its four space-qualified telescopes deliver the laser beams that power the LUNA sensors’ ‘sight’, providing the critical velocity and range data the Nova-C lander needs to stick the landing.“
With its proven foundational components, the complete LUNA sensor will undergo its final integrated trials to certify it for flight.
These tests include shock and vibration testing to simulate the forces of a SpaceX Falcon 9 launch, and electromagnetic compatibility (EMC) testing to military standards, ensuring operation in space’s chaotic electromagnetic environment. There will also be thermal vacuum testing to confirm mission-ready performance in the extreme heat and freezing darkness of space.
Future Exploration
LUNA is not just a landing sensor, but a foundational technology for autonomous exploration in the most extreme, uncharted environments. By providing precise navigation without relying on pre-existing infrastructure, such as GPS, it supports long-range rover traverses, robotic resource prospecting, and the establishment of a sustainable human presence on the Moon and beyond.
Enrico Palermo, Head of the Australian Space Agency, stated, “The LUNA sensor is a testament to the talent and innovation within the Australian space sector and paves the way for our nation to play an even greater role in the future of lunar exploration.”
The sensor’s terrestrial applications extend its capabilities to critical industries, from autonomous underground vehicles to low-altitude uncrewed aerial vehicles, where precise and reliable navigation is essential. The commercial LUNA sensor delivers the same accurate motion data as its space counterpart, enabling autonomous operation for platforms operating in challenging environments worldwide.
Building on its rigorous testing campaign, a terrestrial version of LUNA, integrated with Advanced Navigation’s strategic-grade Boreas INS, will be commercially available in late 2025. This hybrid navigation system will deliver the same high-precision performance for air and ground platforms operating in GPS-denied environments on Earth.
