Celestial Navigation Methods for Space Explorers

With the development of the space exploration missions, a practical and reliable capability for autonomous navigation is urgently needed to reduce operation cost, to improve operational efficiency and to increase mission safety by avoiding dangerous delay in ground control. Celestial navigation is a very attractive autonomous navigation solution for the space exploration missions. It suits LEO satellites as well as high earth orbit (HEO) satellites and deep space explorers. In this paper, a comprehensive overview of the current state and future trend of celestial navigation methods for three types of space explorers are introduced, which include satellites, deep space probes and planetary rovers.