
As humanity sets its sights on the Moon, safe and precise lunar landings remain a critical challenge. Astrobotic is at the forefront of solving this problem with its Hazard Detection (HD) LiDAR system. Designed to address one of the most complex challenges in space exploration, to ensure safe and precise landings, this system represents a fusion of innovation and practicality.
The Need for Precision Landing
Lunar terrains are unforgiving. From steep slopes to jagged rocks and surface roughness, these hazards pose significant risks to robotic landers and their precious payloads. Enter Astrobotic’s HD LiDAR system: a state-of-the-art solution capable of scanning and analyzing terrain in real-time, enabling landers to autonomously identify and select the safest landing sites.
How the System Works: An Overview
Before touchdown, the spacecraft hovers approximately 100 meters above the lunar surface, allowing the HD LiDAR system to scan the terrain in detail. The onboard software processes this data, identifying slopes, rough areas, and potential hazards such as craters or large rocks. Using advanced algorithms, the system evaluates the safest landing zones and relays its recommendations to the spacecraft’s Guidance, Navigation, and Control (GNC) subsystem.
The system corrects for motion distortions caused by the spacecraft’s movement, a process known as “de-skewing.” By integrating real-time sensor data with motion-correction algorithms, the HD LiDAR generates an accurate map of the lunar surface.

How the System Works: The Details
Software Pipeline: the HD LiDAR system operates through a five-step algorithmic process:
- Surface Reconstruction: Converts raw LiDAR point-cloud data into a high-resolution heightmap, identifying key terrain features.
- Terrain Metrics: Analyzes slope and roughness metrics to evaluate local terrain conditions.
- Contact Modeling: Simulates spacecraft-surface interactions to assess stability and slope tolerance.
- Hazard Evaluation: Integrates terrain data and spacecraft tolerances to create a comprehensive hazard map.
- Safe Site Selection: Incorporates positional uncertainties and selects the safest landing zone, optimizing for minimal risk.

This architecture ensures that the spacecraft’s guidance, navigation, and control (GNC) systems receive precise, actionable data to adjust its trajectory during descent.
Proven Performance
Astrobotic has rigorously tested the HD LiDAR system, both in controlled environments and real-world scenarios. From indoor calibration at its headquarters to desert flight tests in Death Valley, CA, the system has been evaluated under conditions mirroring the challenges of lunar descent.
- Simulation: Custom software simulated lunar terrain, including real-world models of Nobile Crater enhanced with synthetic features, to validate hazard detection capabilities.
- Ground-Based Testing: Indoor calibration and outdoor trials covered ranges from 5 to 400 meters, refining the sensor’s accuracy and calibration.
- Desert Flight Tests: Conducted at Death Valley and Astrobotic’s Mojave Lunar Surface Proving Ground (LSPG), these tests involved over 40 LiDAR scans, capturing nearly one million square meters of terrain data. The tests simulated the spacecraft’s hover and descent profiles, ensuring the LiDAR’s capability to handle motion-induced distortions.
- Motion Correction: The system’s de-skewing algorithm dramatically improved point-cloud accuracy, correcting distortions from vertical and horizontal motion. Comparisons with ground-truth data revealed minimal deviation, demonstrating the system’s precision.
- Hazard Maps: High-resolution hazard maps generated during tests consistently identified safe landing zones, incorporating safety margins to account for positional and sensor uncertainties.
Paving the Way for Future Missions
This technology not only enhances the safety and reliability of landings but also sets the stage for more ambitious missions, including the upcoming Griffin Mission One. By leveraging this cutting-edge technology, Astrobotic is helping humanity take confident steps towards a sustainable presence on the Moon.
Astrobotic’s HD LiDAR system is more than a technological achievement; it’s a promise that the lunar surface will no longer be an obstacle but an opportunity.