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Aerospace
Special Issues
New Concepts in Spacecraft Guidance Navigation and Control
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New Concepts in Spacecraft Guidance Navigation and Control

A special issue of Aerospace (ISSN 2226-4310). This special issue belongs to the section "Astronautics & Space Science".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 20 November 2025 | Viewed by 1846

Special Issue Editors

Dr. Carmine Giordano

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
DART Group, Politecnico di Milano, Milan, Lombardy, Italy
Interests: spacecraft trajectory design; optimal control; nonlinear astrodynamics; stochastic optimization; autonomous guidance and control
Dr. Vittorio Franzese

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Interdisciplinary Centre for Reliability, Security and Trust, University of Luxembourg, Luxembourg, Luxembourg
Interests: spacecraft navigation; deep-space cubesat; autonomous operations; optical navigation
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Dr. Iosto Fodde

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
DART Group, Politecnico di Milano, Milan, Lombardy, Italy
Interests: nonlinear dynamics and control; robust trajectory design; uncertainty quantification and propagation; asteroid exploration

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

The space sector is witnessing unprecedented growth, driven by technological advancements and increasing global interest in both commercial and scientific exploration. As this momentum builds, there is a growing need for novel concepts in spacecraft guidance, navigation, and control (GNC) to address the evolving complexity of space exploration.

With the rising trend toward miniaturized platforms, such as CubeSats and small satellites, the challenge of optimizing GNC systems for compact, resource-limited environments has become more pressing than ever. Additionally, the push for greater autonomy in spacecraft operations—motivated by the saturation of on-ground facilities, the need to reduce human intervention, and the demand for more complex and distant scientific missions—continues to drive innovation in the field.

Artificial intelligence and distributed space systems are becoming integral components of these advancements, enabling smarter, more adaptive spacecraft capable of independent decision-making. The need to improve mission safety, enhance precision in deep space navigation, and incorporate advanced sensors is fueling the development of next-generation GNC systems.

This Special Issue of MDPI Aerospace seeks to present the latest breakthroughs and novel concepts in spacecraft GNC, focusing on innovations that will equip next-generation spacecraft to explore and research the solar system with greater autonomy and reliability.

Dr. Carmine Giordano
Dr. Vittorio Franzese
Dr. Iosto Fodde
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Aerospace is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2400 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • spacecraft GNC
  • miniaturized satellites
  • autonomous space systems
  • spacecraft trajectory optimization
  • deep space navigation
  • adaptive control systems
  • artificial intelligence in spacecraft GNC
  • space distributed systems

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Further information on MDPI's Special Issue policies can be found here.

Published Papers (2 papers)

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Research

30 pages, 4618 KiB  
Article
Relative Pose Estimation of an Uncooperative Target with Camera Marker Detection
by Batu Candan and Simone Servadio
Aerospace 2025, 12(5), 425; https://doi.org/10.3390/aerospace12050425 - 10 May 2025
Viewed by 243
Abstract
Accurate and robust relative pose estimation is the first step in ensuring the success of an active debris removal mission. This paper introduces a novel method to detect structural markers on the European Space Agency’s Environmental Satellite (ENVISAT) for safe de-orbiting using image [...] Read more.
Accurate and robust relative pose estimation is the first step in ensuring the success of an active debris removal mission. This paper introduces a novel method to detect structural markers on the European Space Agency’s Environmental Satellite (ENVISAT) for safe de-orbiting using image processing and Convolutional Neural Networks (CNNs). Advanced image preprocessing techniques, including noise addition and blurring, are employed to improve marker detection accuracy and robustness from a chaser spacecraft. Additionally, we address the challenges posed by eclipse periods, during which the satellite’s corners are not visible, preventing measurement updates in the Unscented Kalman Filter (UKF). To maintain estimation quality in these periods of data loss, we propose a covariance-inflating approach in which the process noise covariance matrix is adjusted, reflecting the increased uncertainty in state predictions during the eclipse. This adaptation ensures more accurate state estimation and system stability in the absence of measurements. The initial results show promising potential for autonomous removal of space debris, supporting proactive strategies for space sustainability. The effectiveness of our approach suggests that our estimation method, combined with robust noise adaptation, could significantly enhance the safety and efficiency of debris removal operations by implementing more resilient and autonomous systems in actual space missions. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue New Concepts in Spacecraft Guidance Navigation and Control)
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27 pages, 2171 KiB  
Article
Robust Onboard Orbit Determination Through Error Kalman Filtering
by Michele Ceresoli, Andrea Colagrossi, Stefano Silvestrini and Michèle Lavagna
Aerospace 2025, 12(1), 45; https://doi.org/10.3390/aerospace12010045 - 12 Jan 2025
Viewed by 989
Abstract
Accurate and robust on-board orbit determination is essential for enabling autonomous spacecraft operations, particularly in scenarios where ground control is limited or unavailable. This paper presents a novel method for achieving robust on-board orbit determination by integrating a loosely coupled GNSS/INS architecture with [...] Read more.
Accurate and robust on-board orbit determination is essential for enabling autonomous spacecraft operations, particularly in scenarios where ground control is limited or unavailable. This paper presents a novel method for achieving robust on-board orbit determination by integrating a loosely coupled GNSS/INS architecture with an on-board orbit propagator through error Kalman filtering. This method is designed to continuously estimate and propagate a spacecraft’s orbital state, leveraging real-time sensor measurements from a global navigation satellite system (GNSS) receiver and an inertial navigation system (INS). The key advantage of the proposed approach lies in its ability to maintain orbit determination integrity even during GNSS signal outages or sensor failures. During such events, the on-board orbit propagator seamlessly continues to predict the spacecraft’s trajectory using the last known state information and the error estimates from the Kalman filter, which were adapted here to handle synthetic propagated measurements. The effectiveness and robustness of the method are demonstrated through comprehensive simulation studies under various operational scenarios, including simulated GNSS signal interruptions and sensor anomalies. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue New Concepts in Spacecraft Guidance Navigation and Control)
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