Topics

The topic contemplates advanced control technologies driven by demanding and complex space missions. Papers should focus on demonstrating how advanced techniques (such as advanced modelling, analysis, control, and optimization techniques) can be used for given applications and quantifying their benefits at system level in terms of performance and stability margins, AOCS/GNC design, development, validation, and verification process. This session covers as well simultaneous co-design between AOCS/GNC and other disciplines (propulsion, aerodynamics, structures, optics, mechanism,...).

This topic addresses the analytical treatment of spaceflight mechanics problems relevant to guidance, navigation and control systems. It encompasses a broad range of challenges, including (but not limited to) relative dynamics, orbit transfers, transfers, descent and landing dynamics, and associated perturbation analyses.

Papers are encouraged to describe new hardware developments and promising new technologies. Papers may cover component developments, equipment developments, and new test results. Papers are also encouraged on requirement evolution and trends, such as the use components not rad-hard or high-rel in a dedicated “designed-for-space” equipment. This topic covers all types of sensors used in AOCS/GNC, such as gyroscopes, accelerometers, inertial measurement units, star trackers, Sun sensors, magnetometers, navigation cameras (...), as well as actuators, magnetic torquers & reaction wheels.

This topic is focused on applications of machine learning and data-driven techniques to spacecraft trajectory computation and optimisation. The applications should highlight how these techniques can improve computational efficiency and optimality, enabling better performance in scenarios where traditional methods may be limited.

The Current Space Missions topic addresses the AOCS/GNC detailed design aiming at answering the mission’s key requirements and challenges. Current missions are those presently in Phases B, C or D. Papers should highlight especially for innovative AOCS/GNC concepts, architectures design, describing challenging trade-offs and criticalities.

This topic addresses tools and techniques for accurate trajectory simulation in support to the development of guidance, navigation and control systems, as well as new single- and multi-objective optimisation methods towards the concurrent design of vehicles and trajectories. The optimisation of satellite constellations is also included in this topic.

The Future Space Missions topic addresses the AOCS/GNC preliminary design, and their key requirements and challenges, together with how these have been addressed. This topic targets pre-Phase A or Phase A missions. Papers are encouraged specially to address missions with innovative GNC designs driven by challenging demands and requirements.

This topic is focused on the simulation and optimisation of missions that involve relative motion between objects in neighbouring orbits, including (but not limited to) rendezvous and docking, formation-flying and in-orbit robotics operations.

This topic addresses the results of in-orbit experiences of AOCS/GNC systems and hardware. Emphasis is placed on in flight performance validation and demonstration of new techniques as well as anomaly description, recovery, and workarounds. The topic also covers experience and lessons learnt from field tests and addresses the development, design, and verification of novel demonstrator capabilities at all phases of development.

This topic is focused on the simulation and optimisation of trajectories for expendable and reusable launchers (including stage separations, branching, abort trajectories, stage recovery), as well as planetary landing vehicles.

This topic addresses the challenges of GNC design and development for space transportation (including space logistics). This topic is focused on the GNC design, development, testing and operations for any space vehicle devoted to space transportation (including manned missions). Papers addressing launchers in service, micro launchers and reusable launchers under development, space tugs, and re-entry vehicles are encouraged.

This topic is focused on techniques for atmospheric re-entry guidance and aero-assisted manoeuvres design under large uncertainties. It encompasses the analysis, propagation and compensation of uncertainties together with control techniques based on propulsive as well as aerodynamic actuation.

This topic intends to focus on all the aspects of the AOCS/GNC development cycle. The AOCS/GNC subsystem design, implementation, validation, and verification have the dual challenge to follow the control and estimation techniques evolutions by ensuring reliability, representativeness and minimizing the risks, being at same time efficient and agile for industrial implementation minimizing the required effort and cost. The scope also includes methodologies, processes, and standards.

This topic is focused on the simulation and optimisation of trajectories for vehicles operating at hypersonic speeds within atmospheric or transitional flight regimes. It addresses challenges such as strong aerodynamic and thermal effects, complex vehicle-atmosphere interactions and stringent constraints on guidance and control.

Recent advances in Artificial Intelligence (AI) and specifically in Machine Learning have the potential to contribute to developing, complement and augment the AOCS/GNC system architectures with new techniques for modelling and system identification, filtering, control, and failure detection. In addition, an enhancement of on-board autonomy can be envisaged through AI techniques. This topic discusses the current trends in the integration of AI within AOCS/GNC systems, applied to tasks such as spacecraft stabilization and control, image processing (e.g. feature recognition and tracking), failure diagnostics and prognostics, health monitoring, and management systems, etc. Papers are encouraged to discuss how AI methods compare to the traditional design methods in terms of performances, speed of development and verification.

This topic addresses the development and validation of modelling and simulation approaches for physical phenomena and dynamical systems (enveloping both space vehicles and planetary environments) that are critical for guidance and trajectory computations or for missions characterised by complex astrodynamics.

This topic addresses the specific challenges related to autonomous functions on board modern AOCS/GNC systems. Mission covered span from visiting small bodies in the Solar system, autonomous re-entry vehicles, planetary landers for Moon, Mars and other large celestial bodies, autonomous management of constellations in Earth or Moon orbit. Aspects covered are on board autonomous optimized guidance, electrical orbit raising, formation-flying, distributed missions, constellations management, entry, descent, and landing, etc. Papers describing results on new embedded optimisation analysis and synthesis techniques on illustrative and realistic space control problems are strongly encouraged. Papers addressing advanced FDIR solutions as well as techniques that contribute to increase the reliability and availability of space systems (e.g. fault-tolerant control) are also encouraged.

This topic is focused on the use of surrogate modelling techniques and multi-physics approaches to support spaceflight analysis and design. It addresses methods for reducing computational cost while preserving accuracy in complex simulations, as well as strategies for coupling different physical domains (e.g., thermal, structural, aerodynamic) to enable integrated system-level studies.

This topic addresses the specific challenges related to design, implementation and verification of the image processing and navigation chain in vision-based systems. Detailed topics include tools and techniques for image processing, model matching, feature extraction, feature tracking, shape reconstruction, and all other functions used in the application of vision-based navigation to rendezvous & docking and close-proximity operations, to planetary landing, reusable launchers, and small Solar system body missions. This topic also addresses the challenges for the avionics subsystem development and the avionics architecture solutions for the navigation processing chain.

Under this topic, authors are invited to present datasets that have been developed and are available to the astrodynamics community for space mission planning. Submissions should describe the scope, structure and intended applications of these datasets, highlighting their relevance for trajectory optimisation, guidance and navigation studies.

Small Satellites and Cubesat AOCS/GNC (hardware and subsystems) Small Satellites approach is an increasingly popular format for space missions. A range of SmallSat/NanoSat/CubeSat missions are being defined and developed for variety of applications (IOD/IOV, Science and Exploration companions, Earth Observation, Communications…). Some of these missions are becoming increasingly challenging in terms of AOCS/GNC requirements and AOCS/GNC units’ developments while maintaining challenging targets in terms of development time and cost. This session aims to present some of the related innovations and solutions proposed specifically for these Small Satellites and Cubesat mission.

To celebrate the 25th anniversary of ICATT, authors are invited to submit survey or review papers on available tools and techniques for spaceflight problems, as well as on the evolution of such tools and techniques over the past 25 years.

The new paradigm of "Circular Space Economy" is sought to be achieved via In Orbit servicing, encompassing "life extension" missions (short term) as well as refuelling, in-orbit assembly, in-orbit manufacturing (mid and long term). This topic addresses the challenges of the GNC systems specifically needed for these missions. Example topics are autonomous and semi-autonomous relative navigation strategies, close-proximity operations, autonomous space robotics, and co-design, rendez-vous and docking, control during mated state.