Tenders Are Invited For Guidance And Control Design For Enceladus Lander

Tenders are invited for Guidance and Control Design for Enceladus Lander - Expro plus. To trade-off, design and test guidance and control algorithms for an Enceladus lander,from separation from the orbiter until touchdown on the surface.DescriptionOn top of the inherent complexity of any deep-space exploration mission, landing on Enceladus poses unique challenges: a poorly characterized, snow-covered terrain with hazardous surface features, the need to transit active plume regions, a demanding landingaccuracy requirement of 1 km (TBC), and stringent planetary protection requirements to minimize landing site contamination.Succesfully addressing these challenges will require extensive optimization of all lander subsystems, supported by detailed analysis from the earliest mission phases to shape the overall architecture. Particular emphasis must be placed on theGuidance, Navigation, and Control (GNC) subsystem and its close coupling with propulsion, given the demanding levels of onboard autonomy and reliability required to ensure a safe and precise landing.This activity will address landing trajectory optimization, thruster selection and configuration, and the design, implementation, and testing of guidance and controlalgorithms capable of managing the full end-to-end lander mission, from separation from the orbiter to touchdown. It will also deliver a verification and validation (VV) facility capable to test the GC algorithms both in Functional Engineering Simulator (FES) and in Processsor-in-the-loop (PIL) environment. While the development of complex navigationalgorithms is excluded, the activity will produce simplified navigation performance modelsfor two different navigation scenarios, in agreement with the Agency: one based on vision basednavigation and another relying solely on inertial sensors and RF link measurements with the orbiter.This activity encompasses the following tasks: Trajectory design, optimization, and operational scenario definition, including requirements definition. Trade-off and detaileddesign of guidance algorithms including divert capability. Sizing, selection, and optimal configuration of propulsion actuators.Trade-off and detailed design of control algorithms. Development of simplified navigation performance models. Development of a FES including Enceladus environment/DKE design, GC algorithms.navigation performance models, propulsion models and propulsion plume / contaminationmodels. Verification and validation (VV) of the proposed design solutions and algorithms throughFES simulations. Port and validate the selected GC algorithms on a space-grade computer to performProcessor-in-the-loop (PIL) testing. Read less Open Date: 21/05/2026 16:06 CET Closing Date: 03/07/2026 13:00 CET Price Range: 500 KEURO Tender Link : https://esastar-publication-ext.sso.esa.int/ESATenderActions/filter/open

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