Innovative Space Mission Analysis and Design (Volume II)

Dear Colleagues,

Space science research is having a major impact on our daily lives and can provide a solid framework for global cooperation. Recent advances in space science and technology are often enabled by the adoption of new technology. In some instances, this is where the technology is invented; however, it is more commonly adopted from another scientific or industrial area of application. The adoption of new technology typically occurs via one of two processes. The more common process is incremental progress by a series of small improvements; however, occasionally this process is disruptive, with a new technology completely replacing an older one.

Therefore, we invite papers that address these new technologies, as well as many related topics, such as new and more compact payloads, innovative design, thermal control developments, unconventional mission orbits, clusters of satellites, formation flying, innovative platforms. Papers which explore the general field of innovative space mission design and analyze space sciences (solar system, exoplanets, astrophysics, fundamental physics, plasma physics) and space weather are also welcomed.

This Special Issue will focus on novel concepts and technologies that are necessary to enable new spacecraft or mission concepts with higher performances and lower mass and costs. This Special Issue will also cover topics of remote sensing: a better resolution, increased accuracy, higher bandwidth, and greater time coverage of the Earth; disruptive technologies for remote sensing; super-spectral and hyperspectral payloads; the performance of sensors and their underlying technologies; and significant improvements in areas such as miniaturization and power reduction. It will also focus on improving payload (radiometric and spectral parameters, spatial resolution, swath, polarization) and solutions for stable and large optomechanical elements and systems (e.g., lightweight telescope mirrors), new focal planes, improved wavefront error, line of sight control, high-performance actuators, onboard image processing, onboard artificial intelligence, and data fusion integration.

New developments in astrophysics including future multi-messenger observations could also be covered. 

Prof. Dr. Pierre Rochus
Guest Editor

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 250 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for assessment.

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.