ESA GNC Conference Papers Repository

In an effort to rebuild advanced space technologies, NASA guided by the National Research Council identified a select number of highest priority technologies across all its roadmaps which prominently included Autonomous Guidance, Navigation, and Control (AGNC) applicable to Entry, Descent, and Landing (EDL). As a result, the NASA Flight Opportunities Program has invested in a series of flight demonstrations to help mature these relevant space technologies, including a Draper developed AGNC planetary landing system known as GENIE. In recent flight testing, Draper has successfully demonstrated its GENIE AGNC system by flying a Vertical Takeoff / Vertical Landing (VTVL) terrestrial rocket through the most challenging, highly dynamic portion of a powered planetary landing. This validates the safe and precise planetary landing technology developed by Draper through the NASA ALHAT Project. Additionally, the GENIE system provides space technologists with a new capability to test and validate a breadth of future planetary landing instruments, sensors, and algorithms here on Earth. This paper provides an overview of the GENIE system, a synopsis of the flight testing program, application to future autonomous planetary landing, and the significance of this technology in broader applications