Spacecraft operations typically uses some kind of optimization approach, which often contains some mix of human and automated pieces. It's fundamentally a sche

Spacecraft operations typically uses some kind of optimization approach, which often contains some mix of human and automated pieces. It's fundamentally a scheduling problem (in the sense of AI/CS/OR planning and scheduling), but in a complex domain with geometric constraints on several levels (solar angle, pointing, telemetry), other constraints (like fuel and instrument restrictions), and observational goals. One example of observation planning for an upcoming mission is CLASP (to be used in NISAR, ~2023 launch): https://ai.jpl.nasa.gov/public/projects/clasp/ https://ai.jpl.nasa.gov/public/projects/clasp/