Landing on Planetary Bodies

Psionic for Landing on Planetary Bodies

Psionic Navigation Doppler Lidar for Space (PNDL-S) is smaller, lighter, and has greater precision than earlier generations of NDLs.

Precision Landing Requires Precision Ranging throughout Descent

The PNDL-S provides simultaneous velocity, altitude, pitch, and roll from a height of 15kms through to a safe, precise pinpoint landing on planetary bodies. Direct real-time velocity measurement also enables tighter control over touchdown velocity and allows reduction in the structural margin and tip-over concerns, resulting in lander mass savings. The PNDL-S is built on an exclusive license of the technology from NASA for all ground, air, and space applications.

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A major advancement in precision for landing

Advantages
  • Greater safety, accuracy and assurance of mission success in docking, landing, navigating and hazard avoidance
  • Greater revenue through more payloads and payload capacity on each mission
  • In combination with VBN and TRN, provides increased precision and safety.
Superior to traditional radar
  • Higher precision—Fast (50 Hertz) measurements at range of 5+ km and closing speeds of more than 150kmh
  • Smaller, less mass
  • Insensitive to terrain features
  • Superior signal-to-noise performance for unambiguous ranging, with no false positives
  • No signal ambiguity from transmitted side lobes
  • No signal clutter from jettisoned components

Psionic Space PNDL-S Test with Masten Space Systems
[September 10, 2020]

Diego, Chief Engineer

"Psionic Navigation Doppler Lidar (PNDL) helps ensure safe, precise lunar landings and will be an important part of upcoming unmanned and manned flights. The Flight Opportunities program enabled us to advance the technical readiness level of PNDL with a representative lunar landing trajectory aboard the Masten Xodiac free flying rocket. During the flight, we acquired valuable data to advance the robustness of the sensor-to-navigation computer interfaces, setting the stage for future missions, and ultimately for Artemis’s manned mission to the moon."