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Aerospace
Special Issues
Flight Guidance and Control
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Flight Guidance and Control

A special issue of Aerospace (ISSN 2226-4310). This special issue belongs to the section "Aeronautics".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 31 January 2026 | Viewed by 2745

Special Issue Editors

Dr. Seokwon Lee

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Mechanical Engineering, Chung-Ang University, Seoul 06974, Republic of Korea
Interests: missile guidance and control; flight control; adaptive and nonlinear control; data-driven control; inference and estimation
Dr. Mingu Kim

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Division of Mechanical and Electronics Engineering, Hansung University, Seoul 02876, Republic of Korea
Interests: missile guidance and control; flight control; satellite attitude control; nonlinear control; and filtering

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

The field of flight guidance and control is integral to the continued advancement and safety of modern aerospace vehicles, including manned aircraft and UAVs. As the complexity of these systems increases, so does the need for sophisticated guidance and control strategies that ensure optimal performance and compliance with stringent safety standards. This Special Issue seeks to highlight pioneering research and innovative solutions in flight guidance and control. We invite contributions on topics including, but not limited to:

  • Control design methods for UAVs, aerospace vehicles, and drones;
  • Advanced guidance algorithms;
  • Cooperative guidance;
  • Trajectory/path planning;
  • Trajectory optimization/optimal guidance and control;
  • Autonomous flight control;
  • Fault-tolerant/adaptive control;
  • Learning-based flight guidance and control;
  • Computational guidance and control for flight vehicles.

Dr. Seokwon Lee
Dr. Mingu Kim
Guest Editors

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 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

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.

Keywords

  • flight control
  • guidance and control
  • flight vehicles
  • trajectory optimization
  • autonomous systems
  • unmanned aerial vehicles

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Further information on MDPI's Special Issue policies can be found here.

Published Papers (4 papers)

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Research

23 pages, 1036 KB  
Article
Reusability Flight Experiment Guidance: Trajectory Correction After Ascent
by Jose Luis Redondo Gutierrez, David Seelbinder and Stephan Theil
Aerospace 2025, 12(9), 838; https://doi.org/10.3390/aerospace12090838 - 17 Sep 2025
Viewed by 340
Abstract
This paper presents the design and implementation of a guidance algorithm for the re-entry vehicle ReFEx (Reusability Flight Experiment). This algorithm aims at correcting for the dispersion in position and velocity after separation from the launcher, by updating the trajectory. The need for [...] Read more.
This paper presents the design and implementation of a guidance algorithm for the re-entry vehicle ReFEx (Reusability Flight Experiment). This algorithm aims at correcting for the dispersion in position and velocity after separation from the launcher, by updating the trajectory. The need for this update is driven by the expected divergence from the nominal trajectory at separation, due to the use of an unguided launcher. The transcription of the problem into an optimal control problem is used as a baseline for verification purposes. This algorithm consists of a simplification of the optimal control problem, reducing the profiles of the control variables to a finite set of control parameters. Combining this problem reduction with a function that propagates the trajectory from the initial state, this approach is able to transform the problem into an unconstrained optimization problem. This paper shows that this simplification is able to find solutions of similar quality to the full optimal control approach. The resulting algorithm is proven real-time capable by deploying it into a hardware equivalent of the on-board computer. In addition, a strategy to diverge during flight to an alternative target if the nominal one cannot be reached is appended to the algorithm. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Flight Guidance and Control)
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17 pages, 4787 KB  
Article
The Development of a Prototype for Low Altitude Operations of Unmanned Aircraft Flight Plan Systems
by Siriporn Yenpiem, Soemsak Yooyen, Anucha Tungkasthan, Sasicha Banchongaksorn and Keito R. Yoneyama
Aerospace 2025, 12(9), 826; https://doi.org/10.3390/aerospace12090826 - 15 Sep 2025
Viewed by 521
Abstract
The use of Unmanned Aircraft has grown significantly in Thailand and worldwide, particularly for operations below 450 feet. However, unlike manned aviation, there remains a lack of integrated digital platforms to manage flight plans that align with regulatory and operational requirements specific to [...] Read more.
The use of Unmanned Aircraft has grown significantly in Thailand and worldwide, particularly for operations below 450 feet. However, unlike manned aviation, there remains a lack of integrated digital platforms to manage flight plans that align with regulatory and operational requirements specific to low altitude activity. This study employed both secondary research and expert interviews to gather technical and regulatory user requirements. The data were analyzed and validated using Structural Equation Modeling to identify key variables influencing safety operations. Based on these findings, a standardized low altitude flight plan format was developed and converted into a prototype web platform called GoFly. The system enables operators to register aircraft and pilot credentials and to submit flight plans digitally. This platform addresses the current fragmentation in Thailand’s flight planning process by centralizing operations and enhancing regulatory compliance. The study contributes to the foundational development of a digital Unmanned Aircraft Traffic Management system tailored for emerging airspace users in Thailand and demonstrates potential scalability to other international regulatory contexts. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Flight Guidance and Control)
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23 pages, 5093 KB  
Article
Reentry Trajectory Online Planning and Guidance Method Based on TD3
by Haiqing Wang, Shuaibin An, Jieming Li, Guan Wang and Kai Liu
Aerospace 2025, 12(8), 747; https://doi.org/10.3390/aerospace12080747 - 21 Aug 2025
Viewed by 546
Abstract
Aiming at the problem of poor autonomy and weak time performance of reentry trajectory planning for Reusable Launch Vehicle (RLV), an online reentry trajectory planning and guidance method based on Twin Delayed Deep Deterministic Policy Gradient (TD3) is proposed. In view of the [...] Read more.
Aiming at the problem of poor autonomy and weak time performance of reentry trajectory planning for Reusable Launch Vehicle (RLV), an online reentry trajectory planning and guidance method based on Twin Delayed Deep Deterministic Policy Gradient (TD3) is proposed. In view of the advantage that the drag acceleration can be quickly measured by the airborne inertial navigation equipment, the reference profile adopts the design of the drag acceleration–velocity profile in the reentry corridor. In order to prevent the problem of trajectory angle jump caused by the unsmooth turning point of the section, the section form adopts the form of four multiple functions to ensure the smooth connection of the turning point. Secondly, considering the advantages of the TD3 dual Critic network structure and delay update mechanism to suppress strategy overestimation, the TD3 algorithm framework is used to train multiple strategy networks offline and output profile parameters. Finally, considering the reentry uncertainty and the guidance error caused by the limitation of the bank angle reversal amplitude during lateral guidance, the networks are invoked online many times to solve the profile parameters in real time and update the profile periodically to ensure the rapidity and autonomy of the guidance command generation. The TD3 strategy networks are trained offline and invoked online many times so that the cumulative error in the previous guidance period can be eliminated when the algorithm is called again each time, and the online rapid generation and update of the reentry trajectory is realized, which effectively improves the accuracy and computational efficiency of the landing point. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Flight Guidance and Control)
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19 pages, 5011 KB  
Article
Vector Field-Based Robust Quadrotor Landing on a Moving Ground Platform
by Woohyun Byun, Soobin Huh, Hyeokjae Jang, Suhyeong Yu, Sungwon Lim, Seokwon Lee and Woochul Nam
Aerospace 2025, 12(7), 590; https://doi.org/10.3390/aerospace12070590 - 29 Jun 2025
Viewed by 609
Abstract
The autonomous landing of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) on moving platforms has potential applications across various domains. However, robust landing remains challenging because the detection reliability of UAVs decreases when the UAV is close to a moving platform. To address this issue, this [...] Read more.
The autonomous landing of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) on moving platforms has potential applications across various domains. However, robust landing remains challenging because the detection reliability of UAVs decreases when the UAV is close to a moving platform. To address this issue, this paper proposes a novel landing strategy that ensures a high detection rate. First, a robust detectable region was established by considering the sensing range and maneuverability limitations of the UAV. Second, a vector field was designed to guide the UAV to the moving platform while remaining in a robust detectable region. Next, safe and accurate landings were achieved by considering the current velocity and vector field. The landing strategy was validated through outdoor flight experiments. A quadrotor equipped with a gimbal-mounted camera was used, and a fractal marker was attached to the moving platform for detection and tracking. When the moving platform moved at a speed of 2–4.3 m/s, the UAV successfully landed on the platform with a distance error of 0.4 m. Because of the robust detectable region and vector field, the detection was conducted with a high success rate (94.9%). Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Flight Guidance and Control)
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