Vision-based navigation and obstacle detection flight results in SLIM lunar landing

Abstract

On January 20, 2024, Smart Lander for Investigating Moon (SLIM) landed on the Moon. Vision-Based Navigation (VBN) was used to estimate the position of the spacecraft accurately and autonomously during the descent phase, and it was successfully used in each of the seven regions. Obstacle detection was also performed 50 m above the lunar surface, successfully identifying safe points within the field of view of the navigation camera. As a result, SLIM was the first mission to realize pinpoint lunar landing technology with 100 m accuracy. This paper details the VBN operational concept and developed components, as well as the flight results of VBN in SLIM’s lunar landing operations. • SLIM successfully landed on the Moon, achieving the first pinpoint landing. • Vision-based navigation provided precise position information to the probe. • Obstacle detection successfully identified a safer site within the field of view. • The landing accuracy 50 m above the lunar surface was 3 to 4 m.