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Current and future optical technologies will aid exploration of the Moon and Mars while advancing fundamental physics research in the solar system. Technologies and possible improvements in the laser-enabled tests of various physical…

Fully automatic large-scale land cover mapping belongs to the core challenges addressed by the remote sensing community. Usually, the basis of this task is formed by (supervised) machine learning models. However, in spite of recent growth…

The large constellations of spacecraft planned for use in cislunar space (on the Lunar surface, in Lunar orbit, and in the vicinity of the Lunar Gateway) require new solutions for positioning, navigation and timing (PNT). Here, I describe…

The novel propellantless electric solar wind sail concept promises efficient low thrust transportation in the Solar System outside Earth's magnetosphere. Combined with asteroid mining to provide water and synthetic cryogenic rocket fuel in…

A novel concept is presented in this paper for a human mission to the lunar L2 (Lagrange) point that would be a proving ground for future exploration missions to deep space while also overseeing scientifically important investigations. In…

With the continuous advancement of human exploration into deep space, intelligent perception and high-precision segmentation technology for on-orbit multi-spacecraft targets have become critical factors for ensuring the success of modern…

Mars is the next frontier for the space explorers to demonstrate the extent of human presence in space beyond low-earth orbit. Both government and private space industries have been fascinated by Mars quest to attempt a crewed expedition to…

HERMES (High Energy Rapid Modular Ensemble of Satellites) is a space-borne mission based on a constellation of nano-satellites flying in a low-Earth orbit (LEO). The six 3U CubeSat buses host new miniaturized instruments hosting a hybrid…

Satellite systems are expected to be a cornerstone of sixth-generation (6G) networks, providing ubiquitous coverage and supporting a wide range of services across communications, sensing, and positioning, navigation, and timing (PNT).…

Aerocapture is a maneuver which uses aerodynamic drag to slow down a spacecraft in a single pass through the atmosphere. All planetary orbiters to date have used propulsive orbit insertion. Aerocapture is a promising alternative, especially…

Cube satellites, or CubeSats, are small satellites commonly used to perform Earth imaging and on-orbit scientific experiments. CubeSats are often powered using expensive, inflexible commercial-off-the-shelf solar panels, largely due to a…

This paper discusses the physics, engineering and mission architecture relating to a gram-sized interstellar probe propelled by a laser beam. The objectives are to design a fly-by mission to Alpha Centauri with a total mission duration of…

Satellite Laser Ranging (SLR) is an established technique providing very accurate position measurements of satellites in Earth orbit. However, despite decades of development, it remains a complex and expensive technology, which impedes its…

In this work, free-space optics-based continuous wireless power transmission between multiple low lunar orbit satellites and a solar panel on the lunar rover located at the lunar south pole are investigated based on the time-varying…

Shemar et al. (2016) presented results based on the output of a feasibility study for the European Space Agency (ESA) on the use of X-ray pulsars for deep space navigation, a concept often referred to as 'XNAV'. Here we describe some of the…

Space exploration has been on the rise since the 1960s. Along with the other planets such as Mercury, Venus, Saturn, and Jupiter, Mars certainly plays a significant role in the history of space exploration and has the potential to be the…

Building on a preliminary paper design of a downlink from a swarm of low-mass interstellar probes for returning scientific data from the vicinity of Proxima Centauri, the most critical technology issues are summarized, and their…

We present a simple, novel method of efficiently rendering ray cast soft shadows on curved terrain by using dynamic programming and maximum mipmaps to rapidly find a global minimum shadow cost in constant runtime complexity. Additionally,…

Small satellite systems enable whole new class of missions for navigation, communications, remote sensing and scientific research for both civilian and military purposes. As individual spacecraft are limited by the size, mass and power…

The segmentation and interpretation of the Martian surface play a pivotal role in Mars exploration, providing essential data for the trajectory planning and obstacle avoidance of rovers. However, the complex topography, similar surface…