Inter-Agency GNC V&V Workshop

Workshop Goal

The Inter-Agency GNC V&V Working Group invites researchers and practitioners to submit a technical abstract for a presentation at the second GNC V&V Workshop to be held on 9-10 July 2025 at the Institut Supérieur de l'Aéronautique et de l'Espace (ISAE-SUPAERO) in Toulouse, France.

A hands-on dynamic system modelling and verification Tutorial Course is offered as well by ISAE-SUPAERO and ONERA on the 7-8 July.

The Inter-Agency GNC V&V Working Group is an informal collation including representatives from the European Space Agency (ESA), the National Centre for Space Studies (CNES), the German Aerospace Center (DLR), the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), the French Aerospace Lab (ONERA), The Italian Space Agency (ASI), and ISAE-SUPAERO. The Inter-Agency GNC V&V Working Group is narrowly focused on exploring solutions to improve the collective capabilities of the space agencies and their industrial partners to perform efficient GNC V&V on modern algorithms for space systems.  The Working Group recognizes that the V&V process is a significant cost driver in space mission GNC system developments. The Working Group seeks to identify the new GNC V&V technologies, approaches, methodologies, tools, and processes needed to deal with the evolving complex GNC systems of the future. The Inter-Agency GNC V&V Working Group has carefully considered this fundamental question: Will the GNC engineering community of practice be sufficiently prepared to perform the necessary V&V on evolving GNC architectures and algorithms that are driven by very demanding requirements for autonomy, resiliency, reconfigurability, adaptability, and mission cost-benefit balance? Additional information on the findings and recommendations of the Inter-Agency Working Group are provided here: https://ntrs.nasa.gov/citations/20240003178

The Inter-Agency Working Group is now soliciting abstracts for the Workshop. The envisioned Workshop sessions as described below. The organizers wish to stress that Workshop will not be structured as a typical conference, rather it is envisioned to be an informal forum conducive to group technical interactions. The specific details of the Workshop structure remain to be converged upon. It can be stated that those details will largely depend on the interest level of the community and the nature of the responses received to this Call for Abstracts. The Workshop will be articulated primarily around short presentations to stimulate discussion as well as around more interactive exercises (e.g., round-tables, break-out sessions interleaved with plenary session, etc.). The organizers view this Workshop as an opportunity for community members to informally share GNC V&V challenges, concerns, issues, ideas, potential solutions and priorities for future work and collaboration. The fundamental goal being to improve the reliability and the efficiency of the GNC V&V phase in a mission’s life cycle.

As such the Inter-Agency Working Group is seeking several short 10–15 minute long presentations (i.e., brief “talks”) only, not the full technical papers as would occur for conferences.  The Working Group is especially interested in receiving presentation abstracts that will support a collaborative effort by space agencies, industry, academia, and tool vendors to solve the GNC V&V challenges associated with the complex GNC systems of the future.

Lastly, the Inter-Agency GNC V&V Working Group has an interest in engaging the community on the topic of GN&C engineering education. It is envisioned that a short round-table discussion could be organized as part of this Workshop on this topic: The Future of GNC Education. The intent of this particular discussion would be to gather ideas on how colleges and universities might go about updating both their undergraduate and graduate curriculums as they relate to GNC engineering. Therefore, individuals that share a common interest in this important aspect of how the next-generation of GNC engineers will be educated are encouraged to submit an abstract for a short talk summarizing their thoughts on this topic. For example, a talk suggesting where enhancements need to be made to the undergraduate curriculum to better prepare prospective GNC engineers for their graduate work would be an excellent interactive discussion topic. Alternatively, one might wish to talk about the growing influence of AI/ML on the training and education of GNC engineers. Talks that help identify areas where graduate programs are strong in GNC engineering and where there are gaps in the graduate education of GNC engineers would be of special interest. If there appears to be sufficient interest in this topic of the future of GNC education it is likely that the short round-table discussion will be arranged, perhaps as a lunchtime event.

Participation fees (in progress)

- Only Workshop (9-10 July 2025)

- Only Tutorial Course (7-8 July 2025)

- Workshop + Tutorial Course (7-10 July 2025)

Workshop location

The conference will be held in the reception hall and lecture theatres 1 & 2 (amphithéâtres 1 et 2) at ISAE-SUPAERO, 10 Avenue Marc Pélegrin, BP 54032, 31055 Toulouse, France