Integrated Lander-Propulsion-GNC Framework for Autonomous Lunar Powered Descent

Abstract

This paper presents an integrated lander-propulsion-GNC framework for autonomous lunar powered descent. The BUG VTVL test vehicle serves as the reference platform, with the YUNT V0 throttleable bipropellant engine providing variable thrust across a wide operating envelope, integrated with a real-time successive convexification guidance solver. The vehicle design accounts for structural configuration, landing stability, center-of-mass migration, and inertia evolution, while the propulsion architecture defines the throttle ratio, dead-zone behavior, and gimbal authority that constrain the guidance problem. A successive convexification algorithm addresses all nonconvexities; thrust lower bounds, mass depletion coupling, and thruster dead-zone behavior are all handled within a unified second-order cone program solvable in near-real time. Parametric analysis reveals a fundamental coupling between throttle ratio, pointing authority, and surface gravity. Monte Carlo simulations validate guidance robustness, achieving sub-50-meter landing precision under realistic perturbations.

Accepted at IEEE RAST 2026, 13-15 May, Istanbul, Türkiye. 6 pages. \c{opyright} 2026 IEEE. Personal use permitted; other uses require IEEE permission