Related Publications

LuPNT is the simulation backbone for the Stanford NAV Lab’s lunar Positioning, Navigation, and Timing (PNT) research. Some of the tutorial examples are related to the studies published in the papers below. This page maps each example (and the underlying models) to the peer-reviewed work it is based on, so you can go from a notebook to the methodology and results behind it.

Cite the simulator itself as:

@inproceedings{IiyamaCasadesus2023,
  title     = {LuPNT: Open-Source Simulator for Lunar Positioning, Navigation, and Timing},
  author    = {Iiyama, Keidai and Casadesus Vila, Guillem and Gao, Grace},
  booktitle = {Proceedings of the Institute of Navigation GNSS+ conference (ION GNSS+ 2023)},
  year      = {2023},
  url       = {https://github.com/Stanford-NavLab/LuPNT},
}

Examples mapped to publications

Example(s)	Related publication(s)
ex1, ex2 (fundamentals: orbits, frames, time)	The dynamics, frame, and (lunicentric) time-scale conventions follow the author’s PhD thesis [21] (Ch. 2) and the simulator papers [1] [13].
ex3, ex5, ex6 (terrestrial-GNSS interface, measurements, ODTS)	Lunar orbit & clock estimation from terrestrial GPS: [5] [18] (see Estimation Filters, GNSS Measurement Model).
ex4 (plasmasphere / ionosphere delay & ray tracing)	Iiyama & Gao, ionospheric and plasmaspheric delay characterization with GCPM: [20] [16] (arXiv:2510.10059). See Ionosphere, Plasmasphere, and Ray Tracing.
ex7, ex8 (ground-station / inter-satellite-link ODTS)	Distributed lunar ODTS and time synchronization: [2] [7]; ODTS with lunar surface stations: [15]; the ISL-based autonomous clock-fault monitoring in ex8 is [19].
ex9 (ephemeris & almanac fitting)	Ephemeris/almanac design for lunar navigation satellites: [9]; earlier parameterization studies [6] [3] (see Ephemeris and LansAlmanac Design).
ex10 (surface-rover / lander navigation)	Lunar surface user positioning: [4] [11]; the full surface autonomy stack is [12] [17].
ex12 (constellation design)	LANS constellation trade-off and staged deployment: [10].
ex15 (Mars PNT)	Orbit determination and time synchronization for a future Mars relay & navigation constellation: [14].
General motivation / overview	“Can satellite-based radionavigation be extended to the Moon and other extraterrestrial bodies?” [8].

Note

ex13 (Cesium visualization) and ex16 (LEO PNT with Harris-Priester drag) are simulator/demonstration examples without a dedicated publication.

Selected NAV Lab lunar-PNT publications

Ordered from oldest to newest. A complete, up-to-date list is maintained on the Stanford NAV Lab publications page.

2023

[1]

K. Iiyama, G. Casadesus Vila, and G. Gao, “LuPNT: Open-source simulator for lunar positioning, navigation, and timing,” ION GNSS+ 2023.

[2]

K. Iiyama and G. Gao, “Positioning and timing of distributed lunar satellites via terrestrial GPS differential carrier phase measurements,” ION GNSS+ 2023.

[3]

M. Cortinovis, K. Iiyama, and G. Gao, “Satellite ephemeris approximation methods to support lunar positioning, navigation, and timing services,” ION GNSS+ 2023 (Best Presentation of the Session).

[4]

K. Iiyama, S. Bhamidipati, and G. Gao, “Terrestrial GPS time-differenced carrier-phase positioning of lunar surface users,” 2023 IEEE Aerospace Conference.

2024

[5]

K. Iiyama, S. Bhamidipati, and G. Gao, “Precise positioning and timekeeping in a lunar orbit via terrestrial GPS time-differenced carrier-phase measurements,” NAVIGATION: Journal of the Institute of Navigation, 71(1), 2024.

[6]

M. Cortinovis, K. Iiyama, and G. Gao, “Satellite ephemeris parameterization methods to support lunar positioning, navigation, and timing services,” NAVIGATION: Journal of the Institute of Navigation, 71(4), 2024.

[7]

K. Iiyama, G. Casadesus Vila, and G. Gao, “Contact plan optimization and distributed state estimation for delay tolerant satellite networks,” 2024 IEEE Aerospace Conference.

2025

[8]

K. Iiyama, S. Pullen, and G. Gao, “Can satellite-based radionavigation be extended to the Moon and other extraterrestrial bodies?” Inside GNSS, 20(5), 18-27, 2025.

[9]

K. Iiyama and G. Gao, “Ephemeris and almanac design for lunar navigation satellites,” IEEE Transactions on Aerospace and Electronic Systems, under review, 2025.

[10]

K. Iiyama and G. Gao, “Trade-off analysis for lunar augmented navigation service constellation design,” NAVIGATION: Journal of the Institute of Navigation, under review, 2025.

[11]

K. M. Y. Coimbra, M. Cortinovis, T. Mina, and G. Gao, “Single-satellite lunar navigation via Doppler shift observables for the NASA Endurance mission,” NAVIGATION: Journal of the Institute of Navigation, 72(3), 2025.

[12]

A. Dai, G. Casadesus Vila, A. Wu, K. Iiyama, K. Coimbra, T. Deng, and G. Gao, “Full stack navigation, mapping, and planning for the lunar autonomy challenge,” NAVIGATION: Journal of the Institute of Navigation, under review, 2025 (conference version: [17]).

[13]

G. Casadesus Vila, K. Iiyama, and G. Gao, “LuPNT: An open-source simulator for lunar communications, positioning, navigation, and timing,” 2025 IEEE Aerospace Conference.

[14]

K. Iiyama, W. W. Jun, S. Bhamidipati, G. Gao, and K. Cheung, “Orbit determination and time synchronization for the future Mars relay and navigation constellation,” 2025 IEEE Aerospace Conference.

[15]

G. Casadesus Vila and G. Gao, “Moon surface station to support lunar positioning, navigation, and timing services,” ION GNSS+ 2025.

[16]

K. Iiyama and G. Gao, “Ionospheric and plasmaspheric delay characterization and mitigation methodologies for lunar terrestrial GNSS receivers,” ION GNSS+ 2025 (Best Presentation of the Session).

[17] (1,2)

A. Dai, A. Wu, K. Iiyama, G. Casadesus Vila, K. Coimbra, T. Deng, and G. Gao, “Full stack navigation, mapping, and planning for the lunar autonomy challenge,” ION GNSS+ 2025.

2026

[18]

K. Iiyama and G. Gao, “GNSS-based lunar orbit and clock estimation with stochastic cloning UD filter,” Journal of Guidance, Control, and Dynamics, under review, 2026.

[19]

K. Iiyama, D. Neamati, and G. Gao, “Satellite autonomous clock fault monitoring with inter-satellite ranges using Euclidean distance matrices,” NAVIGATION: Journal of the Institute of Navigation, 73(1), 2026.

[20]

K. Iiyama and G. Gao, “Ionospheric and plasmaspheric delay characterization for lunar terrestrial GNSS receivers with Global Core Plasma Model,” NAVIGATION: Journal of the Institute of Navigation, accepted, 2026.

[21]

K. Iiyama, “Design and algorithms for lunar navigation satellite systems,” Ph.D. Thesis, Stanford University, 2026.