The candidate demonstrated a strong understanding of lunar mission design and successfully carried out a comprehensive preliminary analysis of a lunar nanosatellite mission. The thesis combines an extensive review of past, current, and planned lunar missions with the development of a mission concept focused on lunar dust and exosphere investigations.

The objectives defined in the assignment were fully achieved. The candidate performed a thorough analysis of lunar orbital configurations, assessed the influence of relevant perturbations, evaluated environmental conditions affecting spacecraft operations, and conducted trajectory and ΔV analyses to assess mission feasibility. The propulsion-system trade-off analysis was also carried out in a systematic manner and resulted in well-justified recommendations.

A notable strength of the thesis is the integration of multiple engineering disciplines, including orbital dynamics, mission analysis, environmental assessment, and systems engineering. The candidate demonstrated the ability to translate mission objectives into technical requirements and perform the necessary analyses to support design decisions.

Some sections, particularly within the literature review, could have been presented more concisely, allowing additional space for further sensitivity studies or operational analyses. Nevertheless, the review provides valuable context and reflects a solid understanding of the current state of lunar exploration.

Overall, the thesis is of a high technical standard, demonstrates considerable independence, and provides a well-founded basis for future mission development. All objectives were successfully completed, and the work exceeds the expectations for a preliminary mission design study.

Given the quality of the work and the successful fulfillment of all assigned objectives, I evaluate the thesis with a score of 94/100. Points proposed by supervisor: 94

The candidate in the thesis demonstrated to have well researched the state-of-the-art for the Lunar
Missions and has conducted proper analyses relevant for a preliminary mission analysis, with still
some room for improvements.

As a downside of this in-depth research, it was noted that an excessive part of thesis was dedicated
to presenting previous missions and to provide a general background on the overall regolith
characteristics. Some of it could have been dedicated to other activities, additional analyses, like an
access window analysis. On the same line, to lighten the literature review part, the candidate could
have focused more on missions falling within the same category of space segment or with similar
mission objectives, rather than diverging too much, exploring all sorts of lunar missions.

Furthermore, the requirements could have also been better formulated. They were sometimes
lacking the quantitative quality that allows their verification. It needs to be highlighted that this
comment is not in any way related to the TBC/TBD left in the comments. These are to be expected in
a mission analysis in this phase.

On the other hand, the candidate has demonstrated a clear understanding of the environment
studied in the scope of this thesis, clearly prioritising the most relevant aspects to be included in the
analyses.

While the presentation of the analyses was brief, the candidate proved that they were conducted
with strict attention to detail and accurately identified potential improvements. He has shown to
possess the necessary technical competencies for this research, identifying and translating the
challenges of a lunar nanosatellite mission into the required evaluations. Moreover, the candidate
demonstrated considerable adaptability in performing distinctly different types of analyses,
maintaining a deep understanding of the specific parameters required for each.

Finally, the candidate has shown the ability to utilize the outcome of the analyses to proceed with a
technical assessment of the propulsive technologies available, clearly highlighting which aspects are
to be prioritized.

Given this assessment I award the candidate with a score of 90/100, stressing the quality of the work
done while still highlighting the room for improvement. Topics for thesis defence:

1. You have identified a series of problems that would occur due to the presence of regolith on components. How would you determine whether there is any risk for the spacecraft of being in close proximity to the moon, therefore in a regolith-rich environment? Out of all the problems that would occur, which ones would you prioritize in a simulation?
2. With respect to the Ground Segment, which properties do you think it should have as a network of Ground Stations? Which downlink strategy would you use considering the type of mission and the overall architecture, including the environment that the spacecraft will face? Considering all of this, are you capable of identifying Ground Stations capable of constituting the Ground Segment? Why did you choose them?
3. Can you perform a SWOT analysis of conducting a lunar mission with a CubeSat rather than much bigger satellite?

Points proposed by reviewer: 90