ESA GNC Conference Papers Repository

EXOMARS is an ESA programme in international cooperation with NASA which aims at investigating the Martian atmosphere/surface and demonstrating the technologies needed to land on Mars and perform robotic exploration. The first spacecraft launched in 2016 will be an ESA-led mission including an Orbiter Module (OM) carrying an Entry descent and landing Demonstration Module (EDM). The Orbiter GNC design shall allow the spacecraft composite to cruise to the red planet, make a successful Mars orbit insertion with a chemical propulsion system, circularize the orbit by aerobraking and perform atmosphere observation with 5 NASA/ESA scientific instruments. After the mission presentation, the paper describes the OMB GNC modes as well as GNC equipments and presents performances through simulation results. Finally the specificities of the FDIR logic are explained.