Spacecraft Rendezvous and Proximity Operations

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Overview

The field studies how a spacecraft can estimate another vehicle’s position and motion, plan a feasible approach, and control itself through inspection, docking, or capture. Established methods include Kalman-filter navigation, model predictive control, convex trajectory optimization, and control-barrier-function safety filters; newer work also explores visual pose estimation, reinforcement learning, and learned world models. Methods are tested in simulated rendezvous and docking, Monte Carlo uncertainty studies, and hardware-in-the-loop or free-flyer testbeds, including cislunar and non-cooperative-target scenarios. A central challenge is combining the adaptability and lower computational cost of learning-based methods with reliable safety under uncertain sensing and dynamics, especially when transferring from simulation to hardware.

Latest papers

CardsList

26 papers7 papers in the last four weeks, up 17% on the four weeks before. 0.0% of all new papers.

  1. Foundation Models for Autonomous Space Robotics: Architectures, Physical Adaptation, and Validation

    Oct 16, 2026Zizhe Wang, Jia Deng, Xin Lu +4Space RoboticsRobot Foundation Models

    Astroup Lab, Beijing, China · Harbin Institute of Technology, Beijing Research Institute · Peking University

  2. From Orbit Matching to Docking: A Hierarchical Reinforcement-Learning Approach to Multiphase Rendezvous Trajectory Design

    Oct 12, 2026Mariko Storey-Matsutani, Anatoly Zlotnik, Lee Holguin +2Spacecraft Rendezvous and Proximity OperationsRL Control

    Department of Aeronautics and Astronautics, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA 02139, USA · Los Alamos National Laboratory, Los Alamos, NM, USA

  3. Phase-Gated Constrained Reinforcement Learning for End-to-End Capture and Detumbling of Non-Cooperative Targets

    Oct 11, 2026Álvaro Belmonte-Baeza, Celia Redondo-Verdú, José L. Ramón +3Space RoboticsConstrained RL

    Department of Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence, University of Alicante, Spain. · Department of Physics, Systems Engineering and Signal Theory, University of Alicante, Spain. · Centre for Space Systems, Cranfield University, Cranfield, UK.

  4. Distributionally Robust Adaptive Iterative Covariance Steering for Small-Body Proximity Operations

    Oct 8, 2026Vivek Khatana, Aditya Gahlawat, Naira Hovakimyan +1Spacecraft Rendezvous and Proximity OperationsCollision Avoidance

    Department of Mechanical Science and Engineering, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, IL, USA · Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of Nevada, Reno, NV, USA

  5. Monocular Navigation Relative to Unknown Spacecraft Using a Transformer-Aided Kalman Filter

    Oct 5, 2026Pol Francesch Huc, Simone D'AmicoKalman FilteringRelative Pose Estimation

    Department of Aeronautics and Astronautics Stanford University Stanford, CA 94305

  6. Spacecraft Rendezvous Trajectory Generation with Modular Constraints via Diffusion Model Composition

    Oct 5, 2026Mariko A. Storey-Matsutani, Richard LinaresConstrained Generative ModelingTrajectory Generation

    Graduate Student, Department of Aeronautics and Astronautics, Massachusetts Inst. of Technology, Cambridge MA · Associate Professor, Department of Aeronautics and Astronautics, Massachusetts Inst. of Technology, Cambridge MA

  7. OrbitTAMP: Grounding Language Models for Task and Motion Planning in Spacecraft Rendezvous

    Oct 1, 2026Yuji Takubo, Daniele Gammelli, Marco Pavone +1LLM PlanningSpacecraft Rendezvous and Proximity Operations

    Stanford University, Stanford, CA 94305, USA · Department of Aeronautics and Astronautics, Stanford University, Stanford, CA 94305, USA · Italian Institute of Artificial Intelligence (AI4I), Turin, Italy +1

  8. Control Barrier Functions for Safe Free-Flying Robotic Spacecraft Operations in Tumbling Target Capture

    Sep 22, 2026Alexander Meinert, Peter Stadler, Niklas Baldauf +1Space RoboticsSafety-Critical Control

    Space Applications Group, e:fs TechHub GmbH, Gaimersheim, Germany · Faculty of Electrical Engineering and Information Technology, Ingolstadt University of Applied Sciences, Germany

  9. Transformer-Informed Trajectory Optimization for Relative Motion in Cislunar Orbits

    Sep 21, 2026Walter J. Manuel, Yuji Takubo, Simone D'AmicoTrajectory OptimizationSpacecraft Rendezvous and Proximity Operations

    Department of Aeronautics and Astronautics, Stanford University, Stanford, CA 94305

  10. PINGU: Extending Air-Bearing Spacecraft Emulators with Open-Source Actuators and Learned Control for Contact-Rich Proximity Operations

    Sep 20, 2026Ricard Marsal I Castan, Akiyoshi Uchida, Aman Arora +7Space RoboticsContact-Rich Robotic Manipulation

    University of Luxembourg · Tohoku University · Georgia Institute of Technology

  11. DreamSat-Bench: Development and Initial Testing of a Testbed for AI-Based Pose Estimation from 3D Reconstruction

    Sep 12, 2026Alex Posadas-Nava, August Berne, Giovanni Lavezzi +8Spacecraft Pose EstimationSpacecraft Rendezvous and Proximity Operations

    Massachusetts Institute of Technology · Politecnico di Milano · University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign +1

  12. SCoCaT: Success Conditioned Constrained Reinforcement Learning for Spacecraft Docking

    Sep 5, 2026Aman Arora, Ricard Marsal I Castan, Matteo El-Hariry +1Spacecraft Rendezvous and Proximity OperationsConstrained RL

    SnT - Interdisciplinary Centre for Security, Reliability and Trust University of Luxembourg, Luxembourg

  13. GPU-Accelerated Astrodynamics World Models for Spacecraft Rendezvous and Proximity Operations

    Sep 2, 2026Duncan Eddy, Isaac R. Ward, Grace Ra Kim +1Spacecraft Rendezvous and Proximity OperationsWorld Models

    Stanford University

  14. Demonstration of Space Robot Teleoperation over a Lossy and Delayed Network using ATMOS

    Aug 14, 2026Inkyu Jang, Gregorio Marchesini, Nicola De Carli +15Robot TeleoperationSpace Robotics

    Seoul National University, Seoul, Korea. · KTH Royal Institute of Technology, Stockholm, Sweden. · FleetMQ, Stockholm, Sweden. +1

  15. Genetic Fuzzy System-based Control for Final Approach of Spacecraft Rendezvous and Proximity Operations

    Aug 13, 2026Daegyun Choi, Donghoon Kim, Henzeh LeeghimSpacecraft Rendezvous and Proximity OperationsFuzzy Logic

    PhD Student, Department of Aerospace Engineering and Engineering Mechanics, University of Cincinnati, Cincinnati, OH 45221, USA. · Assistant Professor, Department of Aerospace Engineering and Engineering Mechanics, University of Cincinnati, Cincinnati, OH 45221, USA. · Professor, Department of Aerospace Engineering, Chosun University, Gwangju 61452, South Korea.

  16. Passively Safe Convex Guidance for Cislunar Rendezvous and Proximity Operations

    Aug 4, 2026Ian M. Down, Connor Plaks, Matthew Bolliger +1Spacecraft Rendezvous and Proximity Operations

    Astrodynamics Engineer, Advanced Space, LLC, 1400 W 122nd Ave, Suite 200, Westminster, CO 80234 · Navigation Engineer, Advanced Space, LLC, 1400 W 122nd Ave, Suite 200, Westminster, CO 80234 · Senior Astrodynamics Engineer, Advanced Space, LLC, 1400 W 122nd Ave, Suite 200, Westminster, CO 80234 +1

  17. AI-Augmented Model Predictive Control for Safe and Adaptive Rendezvous and Proximity Operations

    Jul 18, 2026Luca Sportelli, Tyler Barr, Cagri Kilic +1Spacecraft Rendezvous and Proximity OperationsMulti-Agent Control

    Department of Aerospace Engineering, Embry–Riddle Aeronautical University, Daytona Beach, FL 32114

  18. DreamSat-Pose: Spacecraft Pose Estimation from Single-View 3D Reconstructions and Learned 2D-3D Feature Matching

    Jul 15, 2026Josiane Uwumukiza, Jocelyn Zhao, Giovanni Lavezzi +5Relative Pose EstimationSpacecraft Rendezvous and Proximity Operations

    Undergraduate Student, Wellesley College, Wellesley, MA 02481, USA · Undergraduate Student, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA 02139, USA · Research Scientist, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA 02139, USA +5

  19. Spacecraft Fiducial Marker for Autonomous Rendezvous, Proximity Operations, and Docking

    Jun 25, 2026Ravi Kumar Thakur, Matouš Vrba, Martin SaskaSpace RoboticsSpacecraft Rendezvous and Proximity Operations

    Department of Cybernetics, Faculty of Electrical Engineering, Czech Technical University in Prague, Karlovo Namesti 13, 121 35 Prague 2, Czechia

  20. Memory-Efficient Meta-Reinforcement Learning for Adaptive Safety-Critical Control in Adversarial Spacecraft Proximity Operations

    Jun 16, 2026Alejandro Posadas-Nava, Richard Linares, Minduli WijayatungaSpacecraft Rendezvous and Proximity OperationsControl Barrier Functions

    Researcher, AeroAstro, MIT, 77 Massachusetts Avenue, Cambridge, MA 02139-4307. · Associate Professor and Rockwell International Career Development Professor, AeroAstro, MIT, 77 Massachusetts Avenue, Cambridge, MA 02139-4307. · Assistant Professor, Department of Aerospace Engineering, University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, 104 S Wright St, Urbana, IL 61801.

  21. Tightly-Coupled Estimation and Guidance for Robust Low-Thrust Rendezvous via Adaptive Homotopy

    May 6, 2026Batu Candan, Simone ServadioTrajectory OptimizationSpacecraft Rendezvous and Proximity Operations

    Department of Aerospace Engineering, Iowa State University, Ames, IA 50011.

  22. Current state of the multi-agent multi-view experimental and digital twin rendezvous (MMEDR-Autonomous) framework

    Mar 21, 2026Logan Banker, Michael Wozniak, Mohanad Alameer +6Spacecraft Rendezvous and Proximity OperationsRL Control

    Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, Missouri University of Science and Technology, Rolla, 65409, MO, United States · Purdue University, 610 Purdue Mall, West Lafayette, 47907, USA

  23. Lightweight Model Predictive Control for Spacecraft Rendezvous Attitude Synchronization

    Mar 19, 2026Peter Stadler, Alexander Meinert, Niklas Baldauf +1Spacecraft Attitude DeterminationModel Predictive Control

    Space Applications Group, e:fs TechHub GmbH, 85080 Gaimersheim, Germany · Faculty of Electrical Engineering and Information Technology, Ingolstadt University of Applied Sciences, Germany

  24. Safety-Guaranteed Imitation Learning from Nonlinear Model Predictive Control for Spacecraft Close Proximity Operations

    Mar 19, 2026Alexander Meinert, Niklas Baldauf, Peter Stadler +1Control Lyapunov FunctionsImitation Learning

    Space Applications Group, e:fs TechHub GmbH, Gaimersheim, Germany. · Faculty of Electrical Engineering and Information Technology, Ingolstadt University of Applied Sciences, Germany.

  25. SmallSatSim: A GPU-Accelerated Microgravity Robotics Toolkit for Planning, Control, and Policy Learning

    Mar 15, 2026David Schwartz, Alexander Hansson, Sabrina Bodmer +3Robotics SimulationSpace Robotics

    ETH Zürich, Rämistrasse 101, 8092 Zürich, Switzerland · Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, 4800 Oak Grove Drive, Pasadena, CA 91011, USA · University of Michigan, 500 South State Street, Ann Arbor, MI 48109, USA +1

  26. Architecting Autonomy for Safe Microgravity Free-Flyer Inspection

    Mar 15, 2026Keenan Albee, David C. Sternberg, Alexander Hansson +3Space RoboticsSpacecraft Rendezvous and Proximity Operations

    Jet Propulsion Laboratory California Institute of Technology Pasadena, CA, USA · Department of Mechanical Engineering ETH Zürich Zürich, Switzerland · Department of Aerospace Engineering University of Michigan Ann Arbor, MI, USA