Flight Dynamics and Navigation Technologies

NASA is planning increasingly ambitious space missions resulting in unique demands of flight dynamics and navigation algorithms across a variety of designs and operations. This subtopic seeks advancements in autonomous navigation and maneuvering technologies to reduce dependence on Earth-based tracking, orbit determination, and maneuver planning operations. Trajectory optimization design algorithm advancements that support or enable autonomous technologies are also requested. Future missions require a high degree of onboard autonomy that combines higher level mission planning with onboard state estimation and maneuver targeting/optimization. Relevant NASA applications include precision landing, rendezvous and proximity operations, noncooperative object capture, crewed and uncrewed missions in cislunar space, multiple small body rendezvous/flyby missions, formation flying, constellation design, and coordinated operations between Earth orbit, cislunar space, libration orbits, and deep space. Specific priorities include: Application of autonomous guidance and navigation algorithms into onboard planning and scheduling algorithms. Computationally efficient algorithms and software that can be run onboard for safe, precision landing on small bodies, planets, and moons, including real-time 3D terrain mapping, autonomous hazard detection and avoidance, and terrain relative navigation algorithms that leverage active lidar-based imaging. Computer vision techniques to support optical/terrain relative navigation and/or spacecraft rendezvous/proximity operations at unmapped bodies without a long survey/mapping phase and can operate in low and variable lighting conditions. Demonstration of high-performance space computing-type assets integrated with complex navigation and guidance algorithms, such as SLAM, TRN, or in-flight convex optimization. Novel guidance and trajectory optimization algorithms to prototype with ground simulators or onboard spacecraft to reduce onboard mission system uncertainty and/or maintain in-flight operations constraints. Design of guidance algorithms modeling low-thrust propulsion in a multi-body dynamical environment, including small-body exploration. Advancement of time estimation using onboard clock and observable processing algorithms for supporting end user spacecraft precision PNT.