The Moon is the closest celestial body to the Earth. Its rich unique resources are an important supplement to the Earth’s resources and have a profound impact on the sustainable development of human society. As large-scale exploration missions gradually progress, demands for communication, navigation, surveying and other services of lunar-space probes have significantly increased. Constellation navigation and orbit determination technology will become an indispensable part of future lunar exploration infrastructure. This article systematically analyzes the current status of lunar relay navigation satellite networks at home and abroad, summarizes the technical principles of single-satellite and constellation navigation and orbit determination, discusses the technical difficulties in lunar navigation constellation orbit determination and navigation, and analyzes possible solutions. Finally, the development trend of research on high-precision orbit determination and navigation methods for lunar navigation constellations is proposed.

This review examines advancements in Mars habitation technologies, emphasizing Earth-based analog missions and closed-loop life support systems critical for long-duration human presence on the Red Planet. The paper categorizes major simulation projects—including Biosphere 2, Yuegong 1 (Lunar Palace 1), SAM, MaMBA, and CHAPEA—and analyzes their contributions to habitat design, psychological resilience, and environmental control. Technological domains such as in situ resource utilization (ISRU), habitat automation, and extraterrestrial health care are evaluated with respect to current limitations and future scalability. Additionally, the paper explores regulatory, economic, and international cooperation aspects, highlighting their significance in enabling sustainable settlement. By integrating empirical data from terrestrial experiments and recent space initiatives, this review offers a comprehensive assessment of readiness and gaps in Mars habitation strategies.

As a cost-effective and versatile solution, small satellites are increasingly being considered for space exploration. However, one of the major challenges in deploying small satellites for high total impulse missions, particularly deep space exploration, lies in the propulsion system. These missions face strict constraints in terms of volume, mass, and power budgets. This paper proposes a potential solution to this issue through the design of a bipropellant MEMS thruster. Simulation results indicate that this type of thruster offers superior performance compared to the monopropellant propulsion systems typically used in small satellite missions. Specifically, the bipropellant MEMS thruster demonstrates enhanced specific impulse and thrust-to-weight ratio, making it a promising alternative for small satellite propulsion in high total impulse missions.

Wavelength modulation spectroscopy off-axis integrated cavity output spectroscopy (WMS-OA-ICOS) is an in situ detection technique suitable for analyzing trace gases in the atmospheres, characterized by its high sensitivity and ease of integration. However, in current practical applications, the design and optimization of WMS-OA-ICOS systems primarily rely on empirical knowledge, lacking systematic quantitative methodologies. To address this limitation, this study conducts comprehensive modeling and simulation research on WMS-OA-ICOS spectroscopy, proposing a novel modeling approach. The spot distribution simulation results obtained from the self-developed model are validated against those generated using Tracepro. Furthermore, based on the self-developed model, an in-depth investigation is conducted into the effects of cavity length tolerance, beam waist matching, modulation depth, and laser linewidth on signal quality. The findings provide valuable insights for designing and optimizing miniaturized systems with high signal-to-noise ratios.

Space missions to Jupiter and beyond face challenges such as long transmission times, complex environments, and many other unknown factors. These lead to new demands on navigation systems. Integrated celestial navigation, which fuses multiple astronomical measurements to provide navigation support for spacecraft, is the critical guarantee for the smooth execution and long-term survival of the mission and has become a research hotspot in the navigation task of future deep space exploration. This paper analyses the navigation development history of domestic and foreign Jupiter and beyond exploration missions, summarizes the main characteristics and navigation requirements of future missions based on the existing missions and the long-term plans for future domestic and foreign exploration missions, and finally proposes the development trends of future research on key technologies of integrated celestial navigation.

We propose a novel singularity-avoidance method for continuous path planning that maintains zero path-tracking error of a non-redundant free-floating space robot (FFSR). Singularities are a major challenge in the path planning of space robots and may lead to the failure of end-effector tracking tasks. First, the singularity characteristics of FFSRs are analyzed, and a numerical method for calculating singularity surfaces is developed. The symmetry properties of the singular surface are further investigated. Subsequently, based on the nonholonomic characteristics of FFSRs, the existence of quasi-self-motion is demonstrated. A quasi-self-motion-based singularity-avoidance method is then proposed for continuous end-effector pose tracking. In addition, the workspace regions where quasi-self-motion does not exist are analytically derived. Numerical simulations verify the effectiveness of the proposed method. Compared with existing singularity-avoidance approaches, the proposed method achieves accurate path tracking while enabling both active singularity avoidance and singularity escape.